Destined for Doom
by Silver Fire Vampyre
Summary: Zoey gains a new friend and partner in kicking evil's butt. Love comes in to play and Damien gets back an old friend. Who is this new mystery girl and why is she so important to Nyx? Is she stronger than even Zoey? Only this fanfic will tell.
1. INTRO Preface

_**Destined for Doom**_

_**INTRO**_

**I'm better now but I can feel myself slipping. It won't be long now. The only edge I've been clinging on to has been Nyx but, I'm slipping. **

**I can see darkness below me but soon I won't be able to see even that. I can't understand why, why is this happening now? In the **

**beginning my hold was firm but it just slide, and plummeted- dropping to the brink of the entirely too huge ledge. I used to be alive- now **

**I'm just barely living. My eyes shut tight, so that I can't see but it doesn't matter because I can still feel myself quivering and shaking. **

**This force that is working so hard to override my grip, it all started out as a small rift but it's grown so that I couldn't see past it and now **

**my fingers are clasped so tightly to the edge of it that they've blanched a sickeningly white paste color. **

**My lungs gasp in air working to build up one short soft scream, because I owe myself that, but I just can't do it. It won't fit around the **

**lump that's formed in my throat. Still I try because if I don't deserve this then I've gone through all of this guilt and anguish for nothing. **

**Even if I don't deserve this then ****they**** deserve an explanation. Only seconds pass as I consider this path and even in those few short **

**seconds I'm utterly aware that my grasp is slipping. I know that I've already lost, because even though I'm still hanging on an end is **

**inevitable. **

**The time that had pasted used to seem inconsequential, now I see that those events were the most vital. I can also see those events, the **

**ones which caused me to inch down the now truly mountainous cliff side. I have to find a handhold, but all there is to find is a slick, steep **

**drop down into the midnight black darkness. Now's when I wish I had left something behind but I also know that even though I wish that **

**now I was too possessive and selfish to leave anything even something for the person who stood by me ,no matter what. All I had ever **

**cared about was myself and I had known that it would never change. I cared about how things affected me and then I blew off everything **

**else. **

**I may have been selfish but most of all I was immature and that was what hurt the people closest to me. None of it mattered anymore and **

**that was what hurt me. I could never take any of it back. I was getting more and more afraid with each passing thought and each slip of **

**my hand as I went closer to my sure doom. And then I fell. **


	2. Before Everything Else

**Chapter One**

**Before Everything Else**

**Nirall, Katelin, and Jasmin were waiting for me behind the wall at school as they had been doing for the past three years. We had finally **

**gotten to our junior year and everyone said that it was the best. At Sharland High your junior year is the best that life gets to. When you **

**get to be 17 then you finally receive all the perks that come with it such as not having to have the same lunch period as the freshman. All **

**the drama trauma of the 9****th**** graders starts to get old. Now we got a whole new lunch period as well as the new teachers. It was so stupid **

**having to have Mr. Ledony, Mrs. Krensha, and Ms. Renado over and over again. **

**It was a little comforting some of the time but otherwise it was just annoying. Other than that there was the impossibly huge secret **

**fieldtrip to look forward to at the end of the year. Nirall was the first one to come off the wall and greet me. We all got a little teary at the **

**end of our big group hug, but you can't really blame us because we hadn't seen each other over the entire summer. I was near sobbing by **

**the time that it was over and Katelin, the most emotional of us, actually was sobbing. Lela handed her a tissue from her purse. As I **

**watched these tears of joy, I couldn't help but think about how college was only two years away. How was I going to survive college **

**without my three wacky friends?**

**Even as I watched them laughing at the weirdness of the moment I could feel m insides start to twist. I was known for jumping the gun **

**and I knew that I was just overreacting and I should probably calm down before I started to get a full-blown panic attack. Already I could **

**see my friends' smiles starting to fade as they took in my expression. I had to get control of my freakish emotions. I always knew that I **

**was really different. I could never pinpoint exactly why I was different, but it was always painfully noticeable even if you hadn't known **

**me for very long. I was lucky to have a group of such understanding friends. I quickly rearranged my facial expression into a **

**semi-authentic smile but I couldn't fool them. They knew me too well. **

**They were staring at me with their usual expressions for when my thoughts got too complicated for them to deal with. Usually they just **

**shrugged it off, but this time they surprised me by trying to figure me out. "Lela, what's wrong?" Nirall was usually the first person to try **

**to understand me, the only problem was that he was usually the one who failed. Nobody could understand me, not even Jasmin and she **

**was my closest friend.**

**I always acted weird when I got one of those "feelings". And it wasn't just some "feeling" it was like a gut-punch. I never knew if the **

**feeling meant that something good or bad was coming. It was like a subtle extra sense. Somehow my friends seemed to know when it **

**was one of those feelings. As if that wasn't weird enough, they knew when to leave me alone if I was feeling weird about it too. They **

**knew me just as well as I knew myself and probably even better. That may sound tacky but it was very true. **

**I couldn't really answer Nirall's question truthfully because I really didn't know the answer. I couldn't yet, there was no possible way. I **

**never knew what the feelings meant, but I wish I had known. I would have been able to do something. I just shook my head at Nirall. We **

**all knew that sometimes I just couldn't explain the complexity of it to them. Again I was thankful that they were so understanding. Jasmin **

**came up and hugged me again. Like a sixth sense she knew exactly when I needed to be comforted. **

**"So, anything new with you guys?" asked Katelin. She was the first to break the tension of our bubble. All of their actions just fit their **

**personalities.**

**"Not much," Nirall said.**

**"How 'bout you Jasmin," Katelin tried again. Yeah they tried and all of the sudden I had a feeling that I was going to lose them soon. It **

**was NOT a great feeling and I wanted to cry at just the thought of losing them. **

**"All I can say is that a summer in New York is not as fantastic as you would think- at least not without your friends at your side." Said **

**Jasmin.**

**I didn't say anything. At least not yet, the weird feeling still hadn't past yet and I could feel the tears about to brim over my eyes and they **

**certainly would do just that if I dared to utter one word. **

**We just walked through the hallways, catching up on everything we had missed of each other's summer vacations. They continued to **

**question me. I was strong enough to talk but only gave them one worded answers for fear that my voice would crack. I knew that it **

**sounds really weird but this was normal behavior for me. I was started to get a huge headache from thinking about it too much.**

**I walked up to my locker with them by my sides. By chance we had all gotten lockers all right next to each other and we knew that it was **

**going to change this year no matter what. That was the one thing that wasn't so great about going into our junior year. We all had **

**different teachers and new schedules so we weren't going to be in the same classes everyday anyway. It was a sad thought to have, and **

**while all of the freshman and sophmores began to trickle into the auditorium I almost saw the ghost of our past two years. **

** That was weird- even for me.  
**


	3. After All Was Said and Done

_**Chapter Three**_

_**After All Was Said and Done**_

**I could tell we were young and kind of scared but excited. Back then I had only known Jasmin, Nirall and Katelin had come into the **

**picture later. We were just starting high school and it was going to be great. I can still remember the knot in my stomach. In a weird way **

**it was a good feeling. I think that because Jasmin was there I was happy so long as she wasn't moving. Her parents had been thinking **

**about it and we'd been really scared. The look on my face was purely joy and relief. **

**I was still in my weird flashback mode when Mr. Leno started to talk. More like shout. Apparently he was in the Navy or Army or **

**whatever so all he ever did was yell his head off. Every year Mr. Leno made a big production of receiving the new students from Sharland **

**Middle. It was sad really, I think that he just wanted to use the amp system in the auditorium. In a pathetic way, it made him happy. I was **

**still cringing from his shout-speech when Ms. Renolds, the VP, took the microphone from him. Nirall had a huge crush on her. Anyone **

**would notice how absorbed he was with her unless they were completely oblivious, even now he was grinning, flushing, and looking like **

**a fool. But, honestly he was better than a good portion of the guys at Sharland High. The second she walked into a room all things male **

**started drooling- even if it didn't take much to work them up, it didn't help her case that she was single. **

**On the first day of school there was always a big entrance of the freshman. I can remember that I felt like a freak that was being judged **

**for a carnie job. The entire thing was one long boring ordeal but it did save us from going to first period and that was good any day. **

**Finally, after calling out sixty or so students, it ended. We had just escaped from the auditorium when I really started to hack. I had one **

**killer headache and my coughing was starting to get, well, just gross. Nirall looked at me with a strange expression on his face. I couldn't **

**understand it, I mean yeah it sounded bad but I was just coughing. Then it hit me- the rolling pain. It was really bad, not even a warning **

**to it. I thought that my head was going to burst. **

**It was really weird because I had been feeling perfectly fine this morning. I was well enough to scream my head off at my little brother **

**for getting into my CD collection. Right now I was either going to throw up or pass out but either way it wasn't going to be pretty. I **

**wasn't sure why but the strange feeling came back in full force. The ugly yellow, egg colored walls were starting to tilt and I was **

**swerving just a little bit to my left. **

**As always Jasmin could tell something was wrong but that might have to do with the fact that I was turning an unattractive green color. **

**She helped me over to the lockers questioning me frantically about what was wrong. I laid my forehead against the cool magenta lockers **

**trying to focus on where the pain was coming from. Mr. Lincoln had started to come over with a suspicious look on his face but Nirall had **

**distracted him for the moment. I was aware that there was a sharp pain twisting in my gut and my temples were burning. I knew that I **

**had to get out of the hall. (People at Sharland weren't always the most rude but they sure loved to get into other people's business for **

**some good gossip.) Tons of people were already starting to file out of the auditorium. Just then the warning bell rang. Jasmin turned to **

**Katelin and told her that she would take me outside to get some fresh air.**

**We had just walked outside when the noise from the hall was interrupted by Mr. Leno's "commander" voice. A couple minutes later it was **

**silent. I realized that I was slouched on the outside bench with Jasmin at my side still worrying about me. Jeez, I must look like hell. **

**What was she saying? **

**-"mean, really you look like you just saw a freakin' zombie, Lela."**

**"Well I guess I just don't feel like spreading rays of sunshine today." God I was snapping at her, I don't even know why I just felt like **

**going home.**

**"Well, Christ you didn't have to chew me out I just wanted to know if something was wrong." She still sounded worried, and I **

**immediately felt the sting of regret- she was only trying to help me out-**

**And then I saw him. He was standing next to the 1311 bus and as soon as he was sure he had my attention he spoke in a voice that was **

**eerily familiar-**

"**Lela Jennings, Night has chosen you as one of her own You death is now your birth. You have been chosen, answer to Night's call, Fate **

**awaits thee at Her House of Night." I screamed from the searing pain centered on my forehead and then I collapsed.**


	4. Where Do I Go From Here?

_** Chapter Four**_

_**Where Do I Go From Here**_

**Even in an unconscious state I could feel the pain stabbing along the width of my forehead. It was like a thousand wasps were stinging me. The pain, which used to be bearable, was getting worse, if that was possible, and heat was added to the bite of the stinging pain, like a white-hot iron, it burned me. Just like before a weird feeling hit the pit of my stomach- but in a more concentrated form, the only difference was that this time the feeling had a voice to go with it as well. **

_**"**__Your fate awaits you- you will resist to no avail. Resistance is not meant for the Chosen__**." **_**The voice was beautiful.**

**With that the voice began to fade. While the words had swirled around me the stinging pain had ebbed away until, finally, only sharp warm prickles remained. I could tell that I was gaining consciousness and until then I was going to stay limp. Although the pain that had shot through my temples had receded, my stomach was still in knots that rolled back and forth, like the tide. **

**I was anxious as I lifted my head. I had expected to find myself lying on the ground as Jasmin ran to get Nirall and Katelin, but of course Jasmin would never leave me alone when I needed her support- no matter how much I changed. I awoke to find myself clutched in her grasp to keep me from falling to the concrete. I looked into her eyes to see emotions playing across them like a fast-motion movie. I could plainly see shock and fear on the surface, but I could also see relief and determination. What was wrong with her? Maybe she was going crazy. Why would she look relieved at the fact that her best friend had just been Marked into the life of a monster? I realized that she was waiting for me to speak because all of those emotions vanished and were replaced by a look of pure confusion. She gave me her worried questioning look. She was clearly wondering if being Marked automatically made you a mute, unless you Changed. **

**I looked back down and it hit me. The knowledge that I shouldn't, couldn't, be here was so powerful that I gasped in surprise. Jasmin's hold on me tightened in response and as I looked to her face, new tears in my eyes, she seemed to understand immediately because her eyes widened in wonder and, with a jerk of sadness, she began sobbing. An unexpected calm started radiating through my body, as I tried to comfort her while pouring over the situation.**

**I had always wondered what it was like to be Marked, we all had. You got to restart your entire life and not as some chubby, slobbering baby but as a semi-adult. I suspected that was why we were chosen to be Marked when we were seventeen- by that point you should have a tiny bit more sense. I would get to choose a new name and go to the House of Night of Tulsa. Unfortunately, that was the closest House of Night. Deandre Clausford had been Marked two years ago and was sent there so it couldn't be that bad since she stayed. (Deandre had been a complete and utter snob.) **

**Jasmin's sobs had quieted by the time she looked back at me and hiccupped:**

**"W-what are you gonna do n-now?" She had a look of fear on her face and I could imagine why. Most everybody in the universe was scared of vampyres. They had freakish abilities that could help the world but they also could be used for so-called "evil". (Yeah right, adults make up "little white lies" all the time- they're probably just jealous.)**

**"I have to go to the House of Night. That always has to happen." At first she looked surprised, like the fact that my being able to talk was amazing but her eyes darkened into grave sadness and fear as she took in what I was saying. Then suddenly as it all sunk in she became almost… mad.**

**"What do you mean go **_**there**_**? You can't, you belong here with us. They can't just take you away."**

**"Umm Jasmin. Yes. They can actually. I have to go with them no matter what. You and I both know that if I don't go now I'm gonna reject the Change and die." She flinched at my statement and then blanched as she realized that I would truly have to go. **

**"But you can't just leave us," she said in a faint voice, just barely above a whisper, "We were gonna start our junior year together. Oh, and did you forget Brian Rogers? He was just starting to really like you. We were gonna have lunch off campus, new boyfriends, new lockers, new textbooks, new everything." I looked down. She was so fragile. She had always been like a sister to me and I was to her as well. It had always been that way. Always. **

**"How are we even gonna talked to each other when those crazed people keep you locked up in that school 24/7?" She thought about that for a minute. "We're supposed to be best friends for life but were closer than that we're sisters for life. How are we gonna stay sisters if you leave?" Like always she was in tune with my every thought. I used to tease her about it saying that it wasn't going to help her with her grades but now it just made me sad. **

**"We always have been sisters. Nothing's gonna change that even if I am going to change. We're not gonna fade apart like everyone else who goes to the House of Night does. We are going to stay in touch- you, me, Nirall, and Katelin. All of us. And Brian was only flirting so he could make me jealous; anyway he does it with half of the girls in our grade now, nothings going on anymore with us. Nothings going work that out." I mumbled and then laughed at the impossibility of the thought of trying to have a relationship while studying '**_**History of Bloodsucking'**_**. I could just imagine how much pain that would make him relive.**

**"I don't see how that's going to work." She ignored my laughter and her lifeless voice cut through it. **

**"We have to try at the very least." I tried to sound normal but her phrase had pushed it out of me. Just then she became aware of how hallow her voice sounded and how I had responded to it. She rearranged her face into a smile that was more like a grimace. **

**"Yeah, we have to try." She tried to sound hopeful but it came out sounding depressed.**

**I got up and pulled her to her feet. She looped her arm through mine and we walked to the main building to show tell the administrators why we weren't in class and show off the new Mark that adorned my face. Just as we rounded the corner to the building Brian Rogers stepped from the building carrying a tardy slip. He opened his mouth to greet us but stopped dead in his tracks as soon as his eyes lifted to my scarlet Mark.**

Yeah, yeah , I know this chapter wasn't that great. Please, give me a break I wrote it at school during like math class or something. For 45 minutes of boredom it wasn't that bad…

Please review. I want to know if I should keep writing.

-Morgan Brooke


	5. Why Does This Always Happen to ME?

_**Chapter Five**_

_**Why Does This Always Happen to ME**_

**As soon as he stopped, I gasped. I saw his mouth drop open. I saw every single flash of pain and long-term suffering he had endured. When we had gone out he had talked to me for hours. Most men, well generally most people, can't talk about how they feel but he was different. He had gone through this before, and now I was just going to make it worse. Then, when I couldn't have done anything stupider I had to make the biggest mistake and open my huge mouth. **

**"Brian, I know this i-" His head started shaking and, even though it shook the tiniest amount possible, I knew he wanted me to just stop. I understood why, I mean, it had only been a couple of months ago that Naomi had been Marked. It had torn him apart. She had just left him hanging there and forgot about him. To top it off she just gave up and never gave any explanation. That was what had brought us together in the first place, and it was probably why he opened up to me at all. He wasn't afraid that I would judge him because I had seen him like that before- open and vulnerable. He knew that I wouldn't do anything to hurt him intentionally. Of course unintentionally was another matter entirely.**

**He backed away from me slowly, and by that point I had all but forgotten that Jasmin was standing next to me. Although his face gave nothing away I could see that his eyes still retained the misery that he was trying so hard to hide. I wanted to reach out to him, but I knew he wouldn't want me to. He would probably flinch away from me. It would remind him too much of the first time I had, the first time he had been deserted, alone, and anxious. **

**With his eyes, intense in his state of pain, still locked on me- on the scarlet Mark that adorned my face- he simply turned and walked away. Okay, really it wasn't that simple, and he was more running than walking as he fled away from us. I couldn't believe that what had just happened. I had expected to tell him this later where he could grieve or cry or whatever but not here, not now. I was suddenly, outrageously aware that Jasmin was standing next to me with her mouth hanging open in the shape of an "O". Her eyes were boring into mine but I didn't have the strength to turn my gaze away from the spot where Brian had been standing. I might have had the same look on my face, but I couldn't feel anything- I was frozen. My entire body had gone numb and I had probably gone into shock or had a heart attack. Anything would have been better then facing Brian.**

**All I wanted to do was collapse on the cold concrete and cry. It was a great plan but I didn't know how much time had passed and I didn't want to get caught if the bell rang and hundreds of students crammed themselves into the hallway. Without looking at Jasmin I snapped her out of her trance and dragged her to the front office. The secretary took one look at me and Jasmin, with her pale face and depressed eyes she probably looked like she had seen a ghost- and it was close enough. She called to Mr. Leno, and as soon as he came out he took down my mom's number. He told us that he would call them right away and that Jasmin should go back to class. We had been expecting that and Jasmin was tensed and ready to argue for her right to stay with me. Mr. Leno saw the change of her expression and understood.**

**"Of course, if you would rather stay here, your welcome to it." I got the feeling that he would've sent her to class had he not known that Jasmin would probably start a petition the next day to get him fired. I almost smiled at the thought but then I remembered our reason for being in the office in the first place. The smile slipped of my face like I had been slapped. We went over to the ugly, orange, fake leather couches and sat down on one. I could hear Mr. Leno in the back trying to explain to my overly-dramatic mother what had happened. I couldn't feel anything so I just stared at the paste-colored walls and mulled over the predicament. **

**Life at home had never been great- just average. Of course, when my mom wanted to make a big deal out of something, she certainly could but it was only if she felt like it. Otherwise she just sat around the house moping about how she never got anything she wanted in life. I had been through it all before and it had become old by the time I was seven. Everyone thinks that if you're young you don't understand any of the hard obstacles in life and most of the time they're right. We had no idea what there was out there that we could be facing but we had also faced some of the things out there already. That didn't bug me, what got on my nerves was that no adults would give you the time of day, unless you were over nineteen. They thought that until then you would never amount to anything. Adults just didn't believe in good events anymore. **

**My mom's voice was blaring out of the phone and I could almost see her face turning a deep shade of cherry-red as she processed the information that Mr. Leno was telling her. I heard her tone change from attentive, listening (not to mention totally fake) parent to fierce mother ready to protect her child at any cost. I had heard my friend's parents use that tone often enough, but MY mother? The mother how never cared about anyone but herself? The mother who complained about my life on a daily basis? MY mother who regarded me nothing more than a worthless, time-wasting child? It just wasn't in her nature to care about me. It went against every rule she had ever made for herself. What was going on today? Nothing was following its normal pattern.**

**First I get Marked, then Jasmin looks relieved at the thought of me being Marked, now my mom was actually starting to care about what happened to me? NONE of it fit. Something had changed and there was nothing subtle about it.**


	6. Disclaimer

Okay huge mistake

I forgot my disclaimer and since I don't want to get reported here it is.

I don't own any of the ideas that come from the HON series.

***SIGH*** I wish I did

Sorry for those of you how thought I had another chapter…

I'm trying to get at least 5 more reviews, please help!


	7. New Arrival

* * *

Disclaimer- i don't own any of The Marked Series characters. I wish i did. I do own Lela, Jasmin, Nirall, and Katelin along with some other characters.

YEA! I finally finished this chapter and it's the longest one yet.

* * *

_**Chapter 6/7(???)**_

_**New Arrival**_

**As I walked to the front gate of the House of Night in Tulsa I was picturing my mother's face. She had walked into Sharland like she was scared stiff. She had always had the face of a fierce, strong person- nothing like how she had looked then. She also looked like she had been crying. When I got home I found that my little brother had taken a cab to get to the house since mom had called his school and told him. He started crying that he had been sorry about all the stupid things he'd ever done. Somehow it didn't make it seem any better but worse. **

**Now I looked up to the gate and the security cameras. Everything gave me a sense of dread, it looked dark and foreboding. I looked back to my mom's face, peering out of the car window, and tried to smile. After I had gotten into the school grounds my mom drove away- by the look of it she was sobbing by the time she was around the corner. A tall, beautiful woman with auburn hair and a great body came out and greeted me. **

**"I am Neferet, High Priestess of this House of Night. Blessed be, young fledgling, you must be Lela."**

**"I am, Priestess." I gulped too loudly, "So what happens now?" She had a warm smile on her face, but something was off. Not in the sense that everything was wrong, but just that something about her wasn't right. **

**"Now, dear fledgling, you are home. You will be able to see your dorm room but I will let your mentor explain everything else."**

**"My mentor?" Why did I need was mentor and what were they supposed to explain to me? None of this was making sense. As if she could understand the turmoil that was building inside me, she tried to help.**

**"I know this must all be very confusing," That was the understatement of the year; "You see here at the House of Night every fledgling has a mentor to help him or her with their problems. We usually try to let fledgling work out their own problems but sometimes things become too difficult to understand, and that is where your mentor comes in." I was starting to get this but everything else was one big jumbled mess. I was getting another major migraine; I just hoped that this time it meant something other than getting Marked. **

**She continued to explain to me that Lenobia- the equestrian studies teacher would be my mentor and that it would stay that way until I made the change or I died. She was straight forward about the fact that there was a good chance that one day I would probably die. I have to admit that by the end of her little lecture, she had me scared crapless. She walked me to the girl's dorm rooms. **

**"This shall be your new official home. I hope you will enjoy. You are allowed to visit your mentor at any time that you please. My fledgling, Zoey Redbird, will help you around." As she said this, a girl with amazingly long dark, curly hair came over to us. Oh, duh, this must be Zoey. She smiled at Neferet warmly but there was something wrong. There was a sense of falsehood, like she was pretending to like her mentor instead of having a genuine bond with her. **

**"Hi, I'm Zoey. But you must have already figured that out." She was really nice and she actually seemed to like me instead of showing me the same fake/warm smile she gave to Neferet. So that must not be her normal behavior towards people. How weird. What was going on? I realized that both Neferet and Zoey were waiting for me to speak. **

**"Right, umm hi I'm Lela. Uhh, this is a really cool dorm." My God I was the biggest idiot that I had ever known. She ignored my stupidity. It was then that I realized that her Mark was colored in. We had all heard about it at Sharland. Everybody there had called her a freak even when they didn't know her. I had thought it was cool, so people thought that I was crazy. Back then only Jasmin, Katelin, and Nirall had stood by me. I was smart enough not to stare now at the kind girl's unusual appearance. She stuck her hand out to me. It was a common gesture but little did I know that I would be starting a whole new insane chapter of my life by taking her hand in mine. **

**I reached out to take her hand and as soon as it was in my hand I was shocked. In the literal sense. Seriously, I mean there was this horrible jolt that went through my body and at first I could feel it but then there was this weird period of time where my head seemed disconnected from my body. I could think more clearly because the blinding pain was erased. I felt as light as a feather but I could still tell that there was a pain coming from my body. I could also **_**see **_**my body. I watched as I fell to the floor but it was weird because I could see myself but I felt nothing as I watch myself hit the floor with a sickening **_**THUD.**_

**I could see Zoey and Neferet standing beside my fallen body with dumbfounded expressions- still taking in the scene that had just played out before them. I watched as Neferet summoned the Sons of Erebus. They came immediately as they saw her expression which must have shown horror. I watched as they picked me up as if my 112lbs was nothing. Zoey followed, looking numb and then there were other girls from the dorm that had stood by while the havoc was happening. They seemed more afraid then curious. What they were afraid of I couldn't tell. I was perfectly fine but then it hit me. No one could see the ghost of my body floating around watching this turmoil spread. **

**As I watched I became aware that there was a humming coming from behind me. It was strange, there was a small crack in the wall and one of the "feelings" hit my gut. It was telling me to go to the wall but there was no way that I was going to fit through that tiny crack. It wasn't even small enough for a roach to fit through. I went anyway because whenever I tried to ignore one of the "feelings" then I was bombarded with it until I paid attention. I floated over to the crack in the wall and surprisingly as I reached over with my hand it just slipped through. I gasped in surprise but it came out not as a sound but as written words, as in the fact that my gasp was written in the air. As I sucked in a breath the air was tinged pink and I could see it entering and leaving my mouth. Because I had proved that I could float through walls, I kept going. I slipped my body through and found myself on the other side of the school wall except instead of a classroom I was outside in the open air next to a strange oak tree. Under the surrounding branches a timeless woman sat. She was tangled in the roots and it seemed as though she had been there and that she was part of the tree. Not that she came by one day and never got up but that she was part of the tree and that she had always been there. **

** She motioned for me to sit next to her. She was someone that I could trust. I don't know how I knew, I just did. I went and sat. We were there for an immeasurable period of time. As we sat she hummed a melody that seemed familiar to me but I couldn't be sure. Finally she spoke.**

**"Daughter you have met my eyes and ears of today." Well how was I supposed to respond to that? Was I supposed to say yes when I didn't even know what she was talking about or, for that matter, when I didn't even know who she was? She sensed my hesitation and said;**

**"I mean to say that you have met Zoey Redbird. Is this correct young fledgling?"**

**"Yes I have. She is very kind, uh…?"**

**"I am known as many things young one but today many know me as Nyx."**

**"Right, Nyx, so why am I here what happened?"  
"You, daughter, are here to help. The world will soon be in grave danger and Zoey shall need your help. She has become my eyes and ears of this generation. You shall help her; you will be my will and touch. From now on you shall listen to your intuition and follow speak my decisions. You must convince those who deliver evil to understand my will and intentions."**

**"But why me Goddess? Why do you choose me for this task? There must be many strong, adult vampyres who would happily do your will. I'm only a fledgling- and a newly Marked fledgling at that. What can I do that others can't?"**

**"Daughter, you have criticized yourself far too much in the past and because of that you have lost faith in yourself. You are not "just some fledgling" because you are special. You see the truth immediately while others linger on false pretenses. For this you are now my purpose and my connection to all vampyres of this new age. Now you must go and help Zoey to understand my decisions." She was ready for me to go but I still understood nothing and she wasn't going to say anything more about impending ****catastrophe****.**

"**Blessed be Lela, my daughter, my will." She kissed my forehead while saying this and though it burned, I felt no pain.**

**What did she mean the world would soon be in grave danger? What the hell was that supposed to mean? I was confused and as I watched her she smiled. As she began to fade I found myself zooming backwards through the halls and into a hospital-like room, back to what I assumed was my body but it didn't look like me. I was pale and yet green at the same time. There was a light sheen of sweat across my face and neck but I couldn't see any of my features- everything was becoming blurry. I streaked into my body and awoke in a coughing fit. **

**As I sat up vampyres and fledgling alike, that surrounded me gasped in surprise. Someone pointed and whispered the Mark. I reached up and my hand automatically found my forehead. I felt no difference, though I had suspected that I wouldn't- my Mark was a part of me now and it wasn't engraved in my skin or anything. What was the big deal- so I fainted or something and had a mildly insane meeting with some kind of spirit thing. That was normal right? I was still normal it must have been a dream. **

**Right?**

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Review please. I'm still aiming for five at the least. I'm probably gonna keep writing even if i don't get any reviews...  
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	8. A Shadowed Future

Disclaimer- I don't own Marked or any of P.C. or Kristen Casts' characters or ideas

I do own Lela and my other characters.

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_**Chapter 8**_

_**A Shadowed Future**_

**I was already new and I didn't want to be a freak too. So it had to be a dream. There was no other option. I needed to focus on something else right now. I then remembered that there was a crowd of frantic vampyres and fledglings surrounding me because I had passed out or whatever. I looked up right into Neferet and Zoey's faces. Zoey's eyes were filled with wonder and awe. Neferet's face was almost the opposite. The only difference was that her eyes held jealous surprise. That was just weird- what was there to be jealous of? It was just me sitting of a bed- a very hard, uncomfortable bed. That reminded me; I probably needed to get down now. **

**While I thought about this there were murmurs in the crowd and one of the sons of Erebus pushed forward. He seemed to be the leader of all of them. He was huge and muscular and was clearly not a new vampyre. **

"**Priestess, what is this about? Half my guards have left their stations an-" He broke off as soon as his eyes slid to my face, or rather my forehead. He gasped and then began totally freaking out while shouting frantic questions at Neferet. I only got the gist of the questions but his tone made it obvious that something was very wrong. **

"**What does this mean Priestess?"**

"**What will happen to her now?"**

"**It shimmers!"**

"**Will she be very different?" All of these questions and outbursts were directed at Neferet and I had a feeling that she was going to explode soon. Something else that I was positive about was that I still had no idea what was going on and why everyone was making such a huge commotion. Neferet raised her hands as a sign that everyone should stop talking. Thankfully this time she was going to explain something that no one had seemed to grasp yet. It was crazy but as soon as I heard her voice it was magnified over the large group but it was layered with a voice that sounded like Nyx's.**

"**Fledgling and vampyres collect yourselves. Obviously this is a new development that must be looked into. Firstly I propose that we should let Lela in on our little secret." God she was acting as if I was mentally retarded or not there at all but still she was being just so God damn rude! Even though I resented this and felt insulted in the extreme I was glad that someone was finally going to explain what all this shouting was about. **

"**Uh, Lela, maybe you want a mirror. You know, so you can see." Zoey said hesitantly. She had a strange look on her face. It was somewhere in-between surprised and fearful. She handed me a small compact out of a bag from her side. The first thing I saw was the last thing that I expected. My Mark had changed. It was full, and I mean like filled in. Everyone had heard about when this had happened to Zoey but something was different. I couldn't put my finger on it until I remembered one of the bystanders comment. "**_**It shimmers"**_** they had said. I looked more closely and found that as I tilted my head this way and that- the Mark would sparkle and shimmer like crazy almost as if there were tiny heat waves in front of it; changing colors. **

**Slowly I reached my hand out to touch it. I was surprised that nothing happened. My forehead felt like my forehead, nothing felt different or special but it was especially weird because I could see the proof that something was different. I mean, come on, for God's sake my forehead was shimmering. That was not something that normal people's heads do. Everyone was still watching me, and I probably looked like a complete idiot with my hand all over my face and my eyes had gotten big and round. I guess it looked like one of those wanna-be puppy dog faces. Zoey was still looking at it and as her eyes slipped down to look at me I saw something flash through them. Some small bit of knowledge, it was almost as if someone had whispered a piece of information in her ear and she was startled by what they had told her. **

**She also saw that I knew she had learned something new from this. It was weird because a moment of silent communication passed through us. We had to talk- about what, I had no idea. It was plain and simple and yet it was really hard to understand. I looked back to Neferet's face expecting to see the cold jealousy again but instead I found a "warm" smile. My eyes widened the tiniest bit in my surprise and it did not escape her notice. Her eyebrows came down a bit, hinting at her hidden frown. She was still examining me as she began speaking again. **

**"She seems to be fine- no concussion from the fall, or gashes in her forehead, right Zoey?" She looked away from me, only to turn her icy gaze on Zoey. As she said this, her eyes filled with a teasing light but there was something more behind that. A major dislike or I'd even bet it was close to hatred. She was nearly perfect at hiding her true emotions. My gut clenched, sporadically this would happen when I was about to get a "feeling", but instead of the usual flood of knowledge I received I only got one single sentence. **

**"**_**Trust allies and instincts, hidden behavior will be unearthed soon."**_

**Usually I got a feeling that came through my head and just breezed out but this one planted itself. It was Nyx's voice and, though I hadn't known her long it wasn't uncomfortable. It didn't feel like mind control or anything, it just felt like a mom pointing her kid in the right direction. Nyx had sounded like that the first time I met her too, like a mom- slightly amused, caring, and fiercely protective. My eyes widened even more and I must have looked like a retard. Zoey saw the change in my expression before Neferet could look back because she hadn't taken her eyes off of me the entire time that we had been in the tiny hospital-like room. She pulled me off the clumpy mattress in seconds. **

**"Yeah, right, so anyway if it's okay with you, Neferet, I'm going to show Lela around now that she feels better." Neferet didn't look like it was okay with her at all but before she could answer Zoey had cleared a path and we were out the door.**

**She strolled past a few people who did something that looked like a salute it was way different from a human salute though. They crossed a hand over their heart and bowed formally. She did the same in return and they beamed as all this respect was shown. After they had finished saluting her they looked at me curiously and then as they finally noticed me they looked to my forehead and their expressions filled with wonder. Some of their mouths even dropped open. She took me back to the dorms quickly, but that didn't mean that people moved out of our way. **

**As we reached the dorms some of the girls who had gathered once I had fallen looked up and walked up to us, but as they got closer they slowed down as they took in my full appearance. Again- mouths fell. What was with that? It was so old I mean people in movies from the dinosaur times did that. Anyway Zoey pushed past all of them without a word and began leading, or rather dragging, me up the stairs. Soon we came to a hall that we walked down and into a room that could have only been hers. **

**As we walked in Zoey shut the door. It closed with a soft thumping and then she whirled around to look at me. **

**"What in hell is this about?" She seemed flustered and she looked visibly upset now that she could show some emotion since Neferet wasn't in seeing or hearing range. She dropped onto a bed with a cool pink and green comforter on it. I had nothing to say- no answer to her many questions that followed so instead I looked around the room while listening to her try to explain what was going on. The room was open and light but it was a soft light. (I had heard that bright lights hurt adult vampyres but I wondered what they would do to me- to any fledgling.) There was an empty bed across the room and a desk with a laptop on it. There were also two identical dressers, a closet, and a vanity. I looked between the end of the beds and some shelves with a lot of books. While I was looking around Zoey babbled on. I only semi head the stuff she was saying but by the end she had my full attention. **

**"What are we going to do She hasn't said anything to me in like a week, but still She must be trying to communicate, this is just too weird and if she spoke with you and gifted you with THAT then She has special plans…"**

**Zoey would only say "She" so I still had no idea what she was talking about and by the time that she stopped to catch a breath I was totally and completely lost. In all that time I had built up, like, a million and two questions.**

**"Zoey, calm down. What's going on? Who is "She"? What are you talking about gifted? What is so special about me? What do you mean by "special plans"? Where-" But she cut me off then. **

**" And you think that I need to calm down? Okay well first of all "She" is Nyx and-"**

**"Nyx? What's so special about her?" She looked at me curiously for a moment. **

**"So you have spoken with her then?" She asked skipping my question.**

**"Well yeah I guess but I mean it was just a dream and I was under stress or whatever and I fainted or something so it doesn't mean anyth-"**

**"Tell me, do you usually faint under stress?"**

**"Well no but this isn't exactly what my usual day is like."**

**"Do you think that normal fledgling's heads glow?"**

**"Of course not everybody knows that but still this doe-"**

**"Oh Goddess, do you need me to spell it out for you? You are gifted but Nyx! G-I-F-T-E-D. Jeez you would think that the goddess would pick someone with more of a brain. But hey I'm not complaining, She picked me, too."**

**"Hold it right there- She is a GODDESS?!"**

**"What did you think she was?"**

**"Um, a figment of my imagination." This was confusing the hell outta me and I mean more then anything else ever had.**

**"Right, anyway, so you talked to her and then what happened."**

**"How the hell should I know I was knocked out!"**

**"Not AROUND you I meant in the spirit world."**

**"The 'spirit world' is that where I went?"**

**"Yeah, sure, so what happened?"**

**"To tell you the truth, not much." She scoffed at me.**

**"Yeah, right , 'not much'. Seriously something had to have happened. I mean everyone watched your Mark changing and filling in. Something had to have happened. It was one of the coolest things I've seen in my life. It just filled in and started glowing. That has to mean something 'cause it has never happened to anyone and I'm the Queen of 'Not-Normal-Land'."**

**"She was talking to me. Then she kissed my forehead."**

**"What exactly did she say?"**

**"She asked me if I had met her eyes and ears of today, that would be you, and then she said something like I would be her will and touch of today and that I was supposed to help you out with something. What was she talking about anyway?" Now that I had time to remember all of this I concluded that I still had no idea of what any of it meant. Maybe it would mean something to Zoey. I looked back to her but she was just staring at me with her mouth hanging open. She looked surprised by my normal tone.**

**"How can you speak so calmly? Our Goddess just gifted you and then sent you to save the world and you're sitting there like your discussing the lunch menu." Just then it sank in. Why she was acting so weird. Nyx had spoken of the world being in "grave danger" soon and now Zoey was saying the same thing but more out in the open. We had to save the entire world. I gasped as I realized this. I sank unsteadily into a chair under the desk. She seemed to know what I had just grasped. **

**"So you didn't have a clue about any of this?" She asked uncertainly.**

**"I didn't even know Nyx was a Goddess." I said, but my voice barely came out as a whisper. Her voice softened as she let me take in the unbelievable facts that had just been lain out before me. I tried to wrap my head around the entire ordeal but I just couldn't take it and my head was about to explode.**

**"So what are we going to do now?" My voice was still coming out softly, like I was losing my voice, which was completely possible at this point. I looked up to meet Zoey's eyes. They now held a kind of pity. I was guessing that it was because I had just gotten thrown into this messed up "adventure" and I had no clue as to what I was doing. Well, at least that was what I would be feeling for someone like me right now. I was compensating what would happen and what I could tell my mentor of this. Zoey must have been thinking the same thing because she breached the subject a minute later.**

**"You can't tell anyone about this. It is the most-kept secret in the entire continent. Probably the world and yeah I know that sounds cheesy."  
"What do you mean I can't tell anyone I mean we have to tell Neferet or something, right?" Her face blanched and right then I knew I had said the wrong thing because a staggering pain hit my stomach at the same moment that I heard a roaring wind in the back of my head…**

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God, now this is my longest chapter yet- 2,501 words!!!

Please review i need more or i might have 2 stop writiting.


	9. MisunderstoodConfused

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Disclaimer: I don't own the plot or characters of The House of Night Novel series-that honor goes to P.C. and Kristen Cast ***sigh*** i wish i did but who doesn't, i mean come on ppl

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_**Chapter 9**_

_**Misunderstood…Confused**_

**As I watched her face turn pure white and then a swallow/yellow color. I mean she seriously looked like she was about to faint. I couldn't help but feel that I was the one who had forced that reaction on her. Apparently whatever I said had affected her and she obviously didn't want to think about it, but what had I said anyway… "**_What do you mean I can't tell anyone I mean we have to tell Neferet or something, right?"_

**All I had said was that we should tell someone. Was it just the thought of telling someone, but that couldn't be right because she hadn't really been affected until I mentioned telling Neferet, and then it clicked- why she had put on a false smile for Neferet and, then Neferet had a cold and wicked sneer when she looked at Zoey before. Of course- I felt like I should have been hitting myself on the head. Zoey, Nyx's eyes and ears of today, despised Neferet and that could only mean one thing. If Zoey didn't feel like Neferet was a good person then Nyx had the same feeling. At that moment I got a warm feeling in the pit of my stomach and a voice filled my head- they were the words that Nyx had spoken to me when she "gifted" me, as Zoey had put it:**

"_You see the truth immediately while others linger on false pretenses.__For this you are now my purpose and my connection to all vampyres of this new age. Now you must go and help Zoey to understand my decisions."_

**I guess that this meant that I had found out something important and that I was on the path that Nyx had picked out for me. At the very least I hadn't messed anything up yet. I looked back up at Zoey. I could only imagine what my expression looked like but I guessed that my eyes held an understanding because she realized that she didn't have to explain anything to me. At that moment there was a rather loud knock at the door and the deep, yet still young, voice of a boy. **

**"Zoey, are you still in there. I can't find Shaunee or Erin anywhere and we need to talk. Something weird happened in the infirmary and a whole bunch of people are freaking out." I couldn't place the voice to any of the people who had been in the infirmary room with Zoey and I.**

**"That has to be Damien," said Zoey. I was surprised that she was able to keep her voice so even. It must have been because whoever was knocking outside of her room could still hear us. I looked into her eyes and she could definitely see the naked panic that they held even though I tried to hide it, unsuccessfully may I add.**

**"Seriously, it's okay. He's a good friend. I've known him since the first day I got here," she was trying to reassure me but it was NOT working. I couldn't breath. This was one of the reasons that it was not so great to start your entire life over. It meant that you had no friends and it was totally like moving to a new country where you didn't speak the language. You were treated like an outcast and thanks to my "shimmering" Mark I was totally gonna be the biggest freak at the school. Not to mention that I was going to be even weirder then Zoey when she had first started. **

**She could still see the near-hysteria on my face. I had always been pretty bad at hiding my emotions or at least when I met Jasmin I hadn't had to hide them in the first place so it hadn't been one of my worries before but this was different. I really wanted to calm down and then I could feel my terror-stricken expression slide from my face and I could feel myself loosen up as calm took its place. I looked to Zoey. Again it seemed like she could sense what was happening inside me and her concerned look vanished. Even she would have to admit that she looked impressed. **

**She walked over to the door with a slight smile on her face. As she opened it the boy's worried expression changed to one of happiness. He smiled at her and she turned to introduce us. Had it not been for his smile I would have lost my nerve right then and there.**

**Before he smiled I would have run out the open window. Before his smile I was ready to up-chuck from the fear of meeting another fledgling. Before his comforting smile I was ready to go to a different room and cry. That was all before he smiled and wiped the fears from my mind. Before I knew what I was doing I threw myself into his arms.**

**"Damien, Oh my god, Damien it's really you!" I was nearly crying hysterical tears of joy. He stared at me with a shocked expression. His smile was still there (I hoped) under the mental breakdown that he must have been going through. He looked at me and then just as I began to worry his familiar features warmed.**

**"Lela, is it really you. What are you doing here?" It might have sounded really mean and prying had it been coming from somewhere else but from him you could tell that it was just his surprise. I heard his joy underneath the bombshell. I was pleased to tell that even after all this time he still couldn't fool me. I was seriously crying all over his shoulder. He wrapped me in a humongous hug that I, of course, returned. I was sniffling against his shoulder. He had gotten so much taller (did being Marked give you a growth spurt?) I felt so short compared to him. **

**"It really is you!" He picked me up and swung me around still keeping me in his hug. I wondered if I looked different too. At that moment he seemed to notice my forehead. His hug stopped in mid-air and then silence overcame him. Again a look of wonder crossed his face but then he seemed to get almost...mad.**

**"No it can't be y- this can't happen Zoey!" What was he shouting about now.**

**"It's too dangerous!" He was basically screaming in my ear. Zoey was still staring at us with an astonished air. **

**"You know each other?" She was still amazed that something like this could happen? From the sound of it she talked to the Goddess of Night regularly! This should NOT be such a surprise. **

**"Of course! He's my best friend!" Why did she still look like that. A weird look crossed her face. I was still studying her eyes searching for the cause when Damien's voice pierced the tense bubble:**

**"Zoey, this can't happen to her- the Goddess has you. Why is this still happening, and why in hell is it HER?!" What did he mean why was it me? Why was what me? Non of this was making sense anymore. There was something going on that they weren't telling me. Damien had protected me from everything when we were little but he had never had this panicked kind of desperateness in his voice before. Either way, what did I know? I hadn't seen Damien in forever so maybe he was like this all the time now. But I still couldn't believe that, a person could only change so much over that period of time. I looked back to them. What had Damien just said? Something about being in a lot of danger? Well I had already accepted that when Nyx told me that the entire world would be in "great danger" so what was bothering Damien so much?**

**I looked back and Zoey's mouth had actually popped open. She stared at us as Damien yelled to her and she looked like she was just beginning to comprehend something big. She looked back at me and her expression turned to one of horror. Damien had a mirror look on his face. What was wrong with them? They were acting really strange. **

**"Power" Zoey only mouthed the words but they sent another jolt of pain through my stomach and these words floated through my mind like a long forgotten memory;**

**_"Power changes people, but it is only when the person truly loses faith do they give way to darkness." _It was then that I blacked out for (hopefully) the last time that day, all the while having sharp pains in my stomach and a roar in the back of my head.**

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**_Yeah i know i'm horrible for leaving you guys hanging like this. I probably really confused you but all will be reveled in time- god i just sounded like some freaky carny. Oh well i hope you have a good time reading this. Sorry i took so long to get this chapter out but the characters truly do write themselves- however corny that sounds it's true._ **Keep R&R i need a couple more. Seriously try to break 10 people both criticism and comments are welcome at this point!**


	10. Old Ends Meet New Beginnings

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_**I am so sorry that i took so long to update but my hamster, Baloo, died and I had a whole bunch of concerts to preform in and life is just way to hectic. I want to offer this chapter in memory of Baloo. I hope it doesn't disappoint. **_

_**Let's all pray for a snow day!**_

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**Chapter 10**

_**Old Ends Meet New Beginnings**_

Damien still hadn't given any explanation to me about his outrage, at something that I had no idea about. By that time Zoey had calmed him down enough to go and meet up with two friends of theirs. I decided to keep my hair in front of my face as we walked through the sidewalks so that no one could stare at my Mark. It had to be like eleven at night and I wasn't tired at all. This was just plain weird-usually I would have crashed by now. Didn't your body need to get used to sleeping during the day and walking around at night before you could actually do that? We kept walking down the sidewalks looking for Damien's new friends. It stung a little to think that way though- him having new friends and not keeping his old ones. Their names were either Twin one and two or Shaunee and Erin or something along those lines anyway, hell, for all I knew we were going to see Nyx!

One thing that I definitely knew for sure was that Damien and Zoey were driving me insane with their non-stop chatter/whispers about me (Yeah I could hear some of it). I couldn't decide whether or not to smack Damien like I used to. We had been friends for as long as I could remember but when he had been Marked all our lines of communication had shut down. Our fathers, who were both Elders of the People of Faith, tried to teach us that all vampyres were horrible, conceded, overly-confident snobs but Damien and I knew better. Even at a young age we could tell that our parents were all just a little bit jealous. I looked back up at Damien. Even a few feet away from him and I still looked, like, two feet shorter. Honestly it really hadn't been that long since I had last seen him! How could one person grow so impossibly huge?

Zoey was rounding the last corner to our destination when I heard someone yelling from behind us.

"Zoey? Hey Erin, it IS Zoey!" I could hear her shouting out to someone behind her. They probably still hadn't noticed that I was walking with them, instead of coincidentally just walking behind them. I looked up to see their faces- which was a BIG mistake. I could hear her running to me and that should have warned me not to see what they looked like. I heard an intake of breath as I looked up into a gorgeous mocha-colored girl's face. I could tell that she was stunned to see me there. It was obvious from the look on her face that I had been a topic of conversation before and not only because she looked guilty but also because she looked knowingly at my Mark and seemed to understand what it meant. I was starting to get jealous (Yeah I know totally weird right?)- Why should she know what all of this crap meant when I didn't have a clue about what was happening to me? Why should she get to know all about my new life before I was even "introduced" to it?

I know, I know I probably sounded like I was going insane in my head, but I would rather be mental then clueless. I was getting possessive of my new life which wasn't the best idea. If I got too attached then I would do something crazy. I looked right back in and at that exact moment another girl who looked to be the same age as her came sprinting around the corner and almost toppling over us. Zoey looked like she wanted to say something but I beat her to the punch before she could say something that I would regret.

"You must be Erin and Shaunee, right? It's nice to meet you." I tried to sound enthusiastic but I think I came out sounding wary and anxious- that wasn't exactly the emotion I was hoping for. I looked back at them but they still didn't look composed enough to speak. I was about to try to communicate with them again when all of the babble they must have been holding back exploded in mine and Zoey's faces. I felt sorry I had dragged her into this.

"SHIT ZOEY WHAT IS GOING ON!!!" Shaunee was facing me so I got the blow of sound even though it was directed at Zoey, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? FIRST WE FIND THAT THERE'S A NEW GIRL AND THEN THAT SHE HAS A SPECIAL MARK!" Erin looked like she was about to faint and her face was pale but she and Shaunee both had enough energy to keep up a string of shouts. Shaunee and Erin were both looking at Zoey as they tried to get some answers out of her but I wouldn't have been surprised if she had lost her hearing from their outbursts. I looked at her helplessly as she shook her head. It was like she was trying to shake out the ringing from her ears.

"Calm down you two we have to talk this over but not out here." Zoey amazed me by being perfectly calm as she spoke to them in a commanding voice and to my surprise the two girls actually shut up when she told them to. I guessed that this was not the place for talking about private matters. Even now I could see some curious looking teachers round the corner to come over to us- most likely to tell us to shut up but still you never knew… OH GOD I was becoming a paranoid freak of a fledgling! What was wrong with me? Could I not go five minutes without going though some damn crap? I had only been here for a few hours and I had already gotten myself into a boatload of Shit. (Sorry when Lela gets anxious or upset or stressed or whatever, she tends to curse a bit… okay so a LOT…) I was just starting to get really worried when Zoey grabbed my arm and hauled me off to a secluded area that was basically an old Oak tree in a small opening. Zoey still had a death grip on my arm, but honestly it wasn't like I was even going to run away or anything stupid like that. She had the strangest look on her face. It was a mix between anxiety-to-the-point-of-hyperventilation and scared crapless.

I looked back at her and something in my expression must have made it apparent that I was totally calm because she relaxed her grip and gave me a half smile. I looked around and saw that we were standing beneath the branches of the trees that bent in protectively. I also saw that Damien come to my side. Zoey looked at him and I saw him nod from the corner of my eye.

"Okay, explain." Zoey looked deadly serious and I almost burst out laughing! God it was like she was asking for a murder confession instead of how Damien and I became friends. I may have had the hysterical laughs under control but Damien let a giggle slip out. Zoey sent him a death glare.

"What is it now? What'd I say?" Zoey's expression was hilarious. Not like she was totally clueless but right now it kind of seemed like it.

"Nothing Zoey, it's just that… nothing, absolutely nothing." I was glad Damien could talk because the commanding tone in Zoey's voice scared me a little bit.

"Okay well if it's nothing then you two had better explain what's going on,"

"Before we totally lose our minds." I could already tell that it was normal for Shaunee and Erin to finish each other's sentences. They smiled at each other.  
"As always, Twin, you know my exact thoughts." Shaunee was telling Erin.

"Okay here's the deal," said Damien as he saw my confused expression, "Lela and I used to know each other before I was Marked. Both of our fathers are Elders of the People of Faith." Zoey's face paled and then took on a disgusted look. She must have had experience with the People of Faith because every time I thought of them I got that same look.

"Anyway, we were best friends and she's totally cool with everything about me, so she seriously isn't one of the stupid homophobes." I had known about Damien's being gay since we were in like seventh grade and I had never had a problem with it but we knew that both of our parents would so I had promised him that I would keep it a secret. I was really relieved that no one here looked shocked by what Damien had said so they all knew that he was gay too.

"We've been friends forever but I guess I haven't really talked to anyone from home since I got here, well, rather than my parent." He gave me a guilty look and I guessed that he was sad that he hadn't spoken to me in months. He didn't look happy when he mentioned his parents so they probably still hadn't gotten over the fact that he was gay. The People of Faith are hypocrites. I wouldn't be surprised if half of them turned out to be gay as well! I looked back to Zoey, Erin, and Shaunee and they all looked happy to be back in the loop. Now it was my turn to get some answers.

"Okay, well now that you guys have got the gist of it, would you mind explaining to me what the HELL is going on around this place?!" I was so confused! I mean you would be too, seriously, what was all this talk about danger? What did Shaunee mean by Twin when she was talking to Erin? Why did we have to come to this secluded tree to talk about Damien's and my life story? None of this was making sense and I always hated to be lost when people are discussing stuff with me. Zoey gave me a sympathetic yet guilty look. She could tell that this was confusing and she was quick to explain.

"Well first off you HAVE to know that your Mark isn't normal at all. It's even more different than mine, yours shimmers like a rainbow or something." I mentally winced. When she put it like that I felt like even more of a freak. I mean "even more different than hers" isn't exactly the reaction I was hoping for, maybe something along the line of "just different". She sped on with her little lecture; I guess that the hurt must have been clear on my face.

"Well it's just different from what we've seen, but the Goddess must have special plans for you. I mean when I met her she tried to convince me of how different I wa-"

"WHAT?! You met with the Goddess?! So it WASN'T just me?! You've spoken with her. That WASN'T a dream? What is it with this place? Is there a daily miracle or something?! Would somebody PLEASE explain this to me?!" I could tell that I was blowing up in their faces but what Zoey said had startled me- a lot. I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of all of this being real, including the part about the crazy "dream" being real. I looked back up to see them staring at me in shock, not that I could blame them but they had time to comprehend this and I was just shoved into this new world with people and customs that I didn't know anything about, well except Damien. Shaunee was the first to break the silence.

"What are you talking about? Of course all of this is real! Do you think we would be putting our asses on the line for anyone but Nyx?" Her tone stung me but I bit back my retort. It wouldn't do me any good anyways. Zoey jumped in quickly as she saw that Shaunee was about to attack again, and luckily she saved me from having to require a hearing aid.

"Of course it's all real; none of this is a dream Lela. I should start at the beginning so that you'll understand all of this. First of all you may not know how I got this." Zoey pointed to the colored in Mark on her forehead along with the added in spiraling patterns on her neck and shoulders. "My story is that I was walking up on the bluffs near my grandmother's Lavender farm and I tripped and was unconscious until I came to the House of Night and when I did wake up my Mark was colored in." (**Remember that Zoey never told anyone about the Goddess meeting with her- well I'm about to change that a bit because apparently Lela just let it slip.**) "That is the cover story, what really happened is this, the first part of the cover is true but while I was unconscious I traveled to the Spirit world and met with Nyx. She told me that danger was coming and that '**darkness does not always equate to evil****, ****just**** as ****light does not**__**always**** bring**__**good**_**'. **_When I woke up my Mark was filled in and Nyx has proven her trust in me by giving me control of the five elements." Jeez she was summarizing this quickly and my head was beginning to spin. I looked back up to Shaunee, expecting her or Erin to make a snappy comment but instead I found that an understanding look adorned her face instead. Apparently she thought that I had been filled in on all of this already. Just as I was about to start talking again I heard Zoey inhale sharply and she snapped out at me;

"Wait just a second; you went to the spirit world? AND met the goddess there? What did she say?!" She was saying this like it was vital to this entire messed up situation, but I was still convinced that this was a dream.

"What? It's not like any of that seriously existed, right? I mean it was all just one huge dream. None of it was real it was just like a figment of my overactive imagination."

"Lela you don't seem to understand. This is all real. None of this is being made up or whatever you seem to think. We need to know exactly what she said to you." She was snapping at me again. Right at that moment was when I seriously grasped what was going on. I heard my intake of breath and my head spun sickeningly. I felt like I was going to fall over.

"So hold up, you guys are absolutely serious? This isn't some sick joke." I knew that I was acting really slow but I had to get this through my head. I quickly went through what Nyx had said to me. I finally got that I had to tell them everything about my so-called 'dream'.

"She said a whole bunch of stuff that everyone was going to be in danger; she was telling me that I was put in this position to help you because you were her eyes and ears of this generation. She also told me that I was going to be her 'will and touch'- that I was supposed to follow her decisions. I have to 'convince those who deliver evil to understand her will and intentions." I was getting breathless. This was too much to take in at one time and I couldn't really remember why I thought this was a dream in the first place. None of my dreams had ever been that clear anyways. I kept going on even though I was getting a huge migraine.

"I tried to tell her that I wasn't the person for the job but she said that even though I was only a fledgling I was 'special' and that I 'saw the truth while others lingered on false pretenses'- whatever that means. She said that I was supposed to help you to understand her decisions and then she kissed my forehead and from there it got really weird 'cause even though it burned me it didn't hurt or sting or anything. It just tingled a bit..." I trailed off. They all had stunned expressions. Shaunee and Erin's mouths were actually hanging open in awe. I turned to see Damien looking at me with a determined protective look. I suddenly remembered that he used to do that when some guy would try to ask me out. It wasn't a jealous look but more of a brotherly love/protector look. I looked to Zoey to see that she had a humongous smile playing on her face and her eyes were bright.

"I think it's time that we give Lela a little test to see about power." She stated this like it was the most normal thing in the world but even as she began to say it Shaunee and Erin gave little squeaks of surprise and Damien's 'look' became even more pronounced. With that Zoey clutched my arm and hauled me away again, this time heading to a huge room across from what looked like stables. She walked into the room and I saw that it held spices and candles and lots of random materials. She sat me down in a chair in front of one of the tables and began collecting lots of different materials.

She came back with an armload and smiled at me.

"Now we can begin choose anyone of them Lela…"

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**Sorry to leave you guys hanging like that but you should tell me if i should keep going with this. Does it seem like I'm dragging it out? **

**Like it? Hate it? PLEASE R&R I NEED SOME ENCOURAGEMENT TO KEEP GOING . You can reject it if you want. I'll try to get you guys some virtual cookies for R&R-ing.  
**

**Hope this didn't fall short of your expectations!**

**-Morgan  
**


	11. Puzzlement and Disappointment

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**hey guys well here's the next chapter I hope you like it. I tried to get it out ASAP.**

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Chapter 11

Puzzlement and Disappointment

I looked at her in surprise. My face must have been a question mark because she gave me a look that clearly meant that she thought I was being totally slow. She looked around the circle of her best friends only to find that they all wore the same confused expression as me. I looked back to see her reaction. She sighed and rolled her eyes at their oblivious faces before turning and gesturing pointedly at a group of candles. Distinct looks came onto their faces simultaneously. I couldn't tell if I wanted to scream and be pissed or try to figure out this stupid mystery. I was still debating when the four of them turned back to me. I looked towards the candles. There was nothing special about them, they were just different colors. That was the only individuality that each held. Otherwise it didn't look like any of them had been lit before, so why were they still staring at me like that?

I looked to Damien trying to get some answers because usually his face gave something away if he were trying to keep a secret from me. He didn't look happy. He just looked surprised and anxious.

"What is it with you guys? Do I have something in my teeth or are you trying to bore holes into my forehead?" I knew that something big was going on because Shaunee and Erin looked like they were about to explode. Like she suddenly couldn't hold it in anymore Zoey burst;

"Your affinity! You have to have one. Nyx had to give you something! She must have put you here because of Stevie Rae." As soon as she said that her excited expression dropped right off her face like she had been slapped. I looked at Damien questioningly. He just shook his head, clearly telling me that he would explain to me later because this was NOT the time. By the time I was focused on Zoey again she had pulled herself together.

"What are you talking about affinity? I can't do anything special if that's what you're talking about." I was still just as confused as when she had dragged me across campus. She shook her head at me.

"That's because you haven't tried yet. You haven't even touched a candle."

"A candle? Is that what this is all about? A candle. Are you kidding me?"

"Lela, all of us have affinities and they're all connected to the Goddess…" Damien had put on his lecture tone and I knew I was about to learn the history of everything. He started explaining to me that the Goddess had five distinct elements that she was connected to. The candle represented those elements when they were called into a Full Moon Ritual. Yellow for Air, Red for Fire, Blue for Water, Green for Earth, and Purple for Spirit. He went on to tell me that each of the four friends had been gifted with an Element from Nyx and that Zoey had been gifted with all five (which I already knew). By the end of his little tirade he had given me a huge headache and then to add to all my stress he told me that Stevie Rae, Zoey's best friend who had been gifted with the element of Earth, hadn't made it through the Change and that she had died about a month and a half ago during the Full Moon Ritual. Zoey looked like she was about to cry so I decided to change the subject.

"So how do I tie into all of this? I mean, what do you expect me to do. I was just thrown into this mess. I don't even know half of the stuff that's going on around here." I don't think that Zoey was ready to talk yet so I looked to Damien instead.

"We think that maybe Nyx put you here to take Stevie Rae's place as the element of Earth." Zoey said softly. She startled me, a) Because I thought she wouldn't be able to speak and b) because I wasn't ready to take on an element yet, much less a whole new life, and I didn't want to take someone else's place even though I didn't know them. It seemed wrong and just flat out rude.

"That's insane. Why would Nyx do that. I mean someone else, heck ANYONE else could do this. I just started the whole fledgling for life thing there are plenty of other more skilled fledglings that could take her place." I was getting more confused by the second.

"Yes but no one" Shaunee exclaimed.

"And we do mean no one" Chimed in Erin.

"Has ever had a Mark like Zoey's…"  
"Or well, sorta different from Zoey's, and that's saying something." I was starting to understand why Zoey and Damien called Shaunee and Erin 'Twins' and no one had even explained it to me yet. I guess that it wasn't really that hard to figure out, maybe they just shared a brain or something. I mean they finished each others every thought.

"Either way the Twins are right. You are different Lela and it might be in a good way, but we have to see what type of power you have now."

"Zoey, Nyx has clearly Chosen Lela as one of her True Daughters. She must be different. I don't believe that Nyx would Mark her so specially just to give her Stevie Rae's position." Damien, true to his good student gayness (and I do mean that in a kind way) was still the scholar of whatever group he was in and therefore chose to look at this situation logically. Zoey looked like she hadn't thought of that yet. Well, actually she just looked surprised that it was now definitely a possibility that Stevie Rae wasn't going to be replaced. I'm not saying that she was looking forward to replacing her but there was probably still an empty void where her friend was and she just wanted to get it over with and replace her as painlessly as possible. I can only guess but this is kinda what I felt like when Damien was gone. The first few months were the hardest. Unlike our clueless parents, tons of people at school could see that Damien was gay, I mean it wasn't like he tried to hide it.

After Damien was gone I was known as the girl who hung out with lesbos and gay nerds and stuff like that. I started getting over it and soon I didn't really mind what people said about it because I just stopped caring. Seriously, it wasn't their business anyway. That's when I met Dylan Rusmore. He was my best friend after Damien left. He knew exactly how I felt because he had a friend, Owen, who was Marked and sent away too. We could talk about anything for hours. Nothing ever got awkward between us because we always had something to say to each other. Now that I thought about it I couldn't ever actually blame Damien for finding more friends because that was exactly what I had done.

I looked at Zoey but her face gave nothing away. I turned back to the twins they looked stunned by what Damien had said. To make it even harder for them to comprehend Damien kept going.

"Zoey when you first came we knew there was something special about you because of your Mark. Now Lela is here and she is definitely special so there has to be something different about her as well. She must be equally powerful if not MORE." I didn't want to be more powerful then Zoey. The thought scared me and it definitely got my attention. But even thought I was scared shitless I was also intrigued. What if I was more powerful than Zoey? What did that mean for my future as a Vampyre- unless I don't complete the change, I shuddered and shook myself mentally. I really shouldn't be negative or paranoid about this stuff. It won't help me at all it will just get me more stressed out, and I seriously didn't need the stress. I looked at the Twins because I didn't really want to see Zoey's reaction. I hadn't known her that long which meant that I didn't know if she would be pissed, surprised, or happy. (Yeah right happy at the thought of someone being more powerful than you, _phff. _The Twins looked more surprised than anything else. I turned slowly to look at Zoey because I wasn't sure exactly what I would see. She surprised me though. She looked scared, which was not at all like I expected. Why would she be scared? The others noticed her expression as well. Damien looked between mine and Zoey's faces.

"The unknown is always something to be scared of, Lela." Damien explained.

"I take it that you aren't afraid of this new life yet." Zoey whispered. Good grief did she think that courage was an affinity now too? Hell yes I was afraid and anxious and freaked out beyond my imagination. It was hard and they were throwing all of this I my face! I had to keep my cool because it wouldn't help the situation if I started screaming at her. I kept my face neutral. I was calm which amazed me. The rising turmoil in my head had calmed. As if she hadn't made me furious already she kept going;

"You'll find in time that things you aren't sure of become terrifying. Blood will become a horror that you don't want to deal with and your trust in professo- people will be tested." I was sure that she had been about to say professors, but that made no sense whatsoever. The teachers were the few people in this new world that we could trust, right? Then suddenly it all clicked into place, why Zoey acted coldly towards Neferet and why Neferet retaliated with rude comments and gestures. They either loathed each other's guts or they were afraid of each other's power. I suddenly felt dog-tired. I was gonna pass out soon. I could just tell, and thankfully Damien could still read me well enough to know too.

"Zoey could we do this tomorrow? Lela is going to fall asleep while you're doing your little tests." He got right to the point and Zoey seemed to realize that he was right.

"I guess but this seriously sucks." She looked towards me again. " Your timing isn't that great. It's too bad that you came at the beginning of the week. The vamps treat new students the same as everyone else. Your gonna get the same amount of homework which is probably gonna put us behind." Sheesh it sounded like she already had a schedule planned out.

We walked back to the dorms and Damien stopped me before heading to the boys' dorm rooms.

"Don't be afraid Lela. Everything's gonna be fine. Zoey, Shaunee, and Erin are gonna help you and I heard that you're gonna be rooming with Zoey so everything should settle down." He gave me a comforting look. "Just try to get some sleep, kay." I nodded. He hugged me and then headed for his room. I walked up to the rooms and I didn't really see anything, it was all blurry. I walked into our room with Zoey leading. The only detail I noticed was that all of the stuff from my room back at home was now in the dorm. I flopped onto my bed and fell into a not-to-peaceful oblivion.

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**Sorry to leave you guys hanging like that but i promise that i'll reveal the power later. This is more of a filler chapter. Trying to explain some things. I hoped you like it!**

**PLEASE R&R **

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	12. Talk About the New Kid

Hey, guys I just wanted to say that I am really sorry I haven't written in so long. I wish I wrote more and I am definitely going to try I had a really hard time trying to write this chapter, hey, even I get writer's block. I wish that I was able to say that I had a good reason for not writing but unfortunately my only excuse is that I was reading so many other Fanfic stories and the fact that our school gave out 'Stimulus Packets' doesn't really help that much either. Then again I probably just making some pathetic excuses again.

Be warned that this is again more of a filler chapter... I didn't really know what to write because of the whole 'writer's block issue'. I'm sorry that this AN is so long but I promise that from now on I'm going to try to keep them down. I also promise that I'm never going to do a AN chapters again unless they are really important.

**To all of my lovely reviewers Read the ending authors note for some feedback!!!!**

ON WITH THE CHAPTER!!!

Discaimer- I don't know anything it all belongs to the incredible authors, P.C. and Kristen Cast!!!

Chapter 12

Talk About the New Kid

I woke up after the weirdest dream about cats. Yep that's right cats. I could've been dreaming about cool powers and hot, sexy boys but instead I'm stuck with cats. There was one cat that kept popping up every three seconds. It was an Abyssinian cat that was totally gorgeous. Its tail, face, and ears were brown but its face had the look of a brown mask and the rest of it was all white except for one paw which was a honey color. It looked like it was about fours years old which, put into human years, was 17 like me! I looked around groggily when I got up. Everything was still blurry. I looked to my alarm clock- it was 7:13pm. Jeesh, I had slept for more than twelve hours and yet it felt like waking up at 5am for a regular school day. I looked around the room and all of the details from yesterday came flooding back to me. I swiveled around to see Zoey still sleeping but I couldn't even blink before her eyes snapped open. It was really weird though. Most people I know usually are disoriented when they wake up but Zoey seemed to know exactly what was going on.

As she got out of bed she handed me a schedule. I looked and saw that it was almost exactly like the one I had at my other school. I looked up and down the list to see that even though it was similar, there was no way that classes at my old school sounded that cool. There was a whole bunch of stuff like equestrian classes and I could tell just from their names that the teachers would be pretty cool. While I was getting ready for my first day at the "Vamp Finishing School" (something that The House of Night was commonly known as.) Zoey started explaining to me that each of the "forms" had different symbols that they had to wear at all times. We were third formers; therefore we had Nyx's Silver Spiral.

"The third formers' symbol is embroidered in silver in the shape of a spiral that glitters in a delicate circle. The symbol – the silver labyrinth of the Goddess Nyx – stands for a new beginning for the third formers as they walk the Path of Night and learn the ways of the Goddess." Those were her exact words and good God did she sound like she was quoting from a text book or what? Although that it basically repulsed me that we had to wear school uniforms she told me that it wasn't all that bad because you got to personalize your outfits and that no one's ever looked the same unless that planned it that way. She also told me that we actually got to go off of the campus but there were REALLY strict rules. We couldn't let people know that we were fledglings. If we did there was a really harsh punishment. She wouldn't tell me exactly what punishment it was and when I asked she just shuddered delicately and then quickly changed the subject.

She suddenly looked at the clock and gasped. She turned back to me and muttered something about 'better style than the last newbie'. I looked at her questioningly and she just replied that we were running later than planned. Pfft, yeah right, then proceeded to toss me a cute chic vest with out third former sign on it. I had to admit that even though I thought the signs would be darkish, this one actually just added to the cuteness. It was a spiral that sparkled like crazy wherever the light hit it. I put the vest on over a light blue camisole. I looked at myself in the mirror and found that I actually looked better on my first day of my junior year in Vampyre School than on my first day of my junior year in High school. I had a weird glow around me, which was way unexpected. Everything about my new life just seemed to fit me. It was like I was meant to be a vampyre, which was weird but it also made me feel like I belonged in this new world more. I looked at Zoey who was applying some lip gloss. She glowed as well- huh maybe my vision was just betting fuzzy.

After she handed me the clothes she walked over to a desk on my side of the room and handed me a piece of paper. It looked like a daily schedule. The teacher's names were unique although you could say that they were professors instead of teachers. The schedule wasn't even complex like the one I had at Sharland:

1st hour- Vampyre Sociology 101. Rm.215. Prof. Neferet

2nd hour- Lit 101. rm. 214. Prof. Penthesilea

3rd hour- Spanish 101. Rm.216. Prof. Garmy

4th hour- Rencing. Gymnasium. Prof. D. Lankford

LUNCH BREAK

5th hour- Intro to Equestrian studies. Field House. Prof. Lenobia

6th hour- Drama 101. Preforming Arts Center. Prof. Nolan

_or_

Sketching 101. Rm. 312. Prof. Doner

_or_

Intro to Music. Rm. 314. Prof. Vento

We exited the room quickly since we were running late. We went down to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. Since I was fully awake now I was able to absorb the details that I had ignored last night. We went down to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. Since I was fully awake now I was able to absorb the details that I had ignored last night. The Main floor of the dorms seriously amazed me. It's not like I assumed everything was going to be dark and foreboding but still it was just a normal dorm, which I hadn't expected. The floor consisted of a TV/Living Room and the Kitchen. It was amazing, the TV/Living Room had a whole bunch of comfy looking couches, bean bags, and recliner chairs. They also had those amazingly long pillows that you could lay down on. We rushed past the TV room and into the kitchen. The kitchen was phenomenal! It had long counters and cabinets with two gigantic refrigerators. There were four islands that dominated the central space of the floor and two small tables that seated four people each. I was surprised because it was just like a normal dorm would be- there was no blood in the fridge or sun-blocking powder in the bathrooms and the fledglings were just like normal teenagers.

As I was looking around the kitchen Zoey was getting our breakfasts ready. I seriously love any type of breakfast food as long as it includes chocolate. And I mean come on who wouldn't? My favorite food is croissants with French chocolate. Yeah, I know that it's a weird food combination but it is really good- trust me. Zoey pulled out a bag of Chocolate Rice Krispies. She looked over at me with a sheepish grin on her face.

"I love cereal, any type is my type." She sounded shy, like I was gonna reject even the most subtle difference between us. I have no clue why she would even suspect something like that. I could tell that we were going to be friends the second she accepted me into her circle, not to mention the fact that she had accepted Damien into her group. If he was friends with her then I was definitely friends with her.

We slurped down the remains of the cereal and rushed down the stairs. She had told me that we had first and fourth period together so I probably wouldn't need help to get anywhere because all of the third former classes were in one hall, that is except for the elective classes and physical activites which were to be found in their appointed rooms and the gym/stables. I was just thankful that we had left so quickly that no one had gotten the chance to gawk at me. We went into the classroom and I was barely able to take in the fact that Damien was waving to Zoey and I from about two tables away from the door. Almost immediately after we walked through the door Neferet swept into the room, she had an air of confidence surrounding her. It was stunning and yet it was intimidating as well. Then again all of the full Vamps were impressive but this was really different. She was enforcing the power by giving certain people in the room this weird stare. As she walked by our table there was an overpowering wave of hostility. She looked down at Zoey and smiled but it was more of a sneer. I doubt anyone else noticed because no one else was close enough, except perhaps Damien but he was too busy staring at the front of the class to notice. I looked back and Neferet was now starring down at me. It wasn't the full sneer that she had given Zoey, but it was close enough that my chin lifted up a fraction of an inch in my stubbornness. At first she looked like she was concentrating really hard on something but her expression quickly turned to one of frustration and then to a weird horror-panic before it smoothed out to a calm neutral look. She then looked down at me and gave a cold smile. It shouldn't have happened but she gave me that creepy feeling again, like she wasn't someone I should trust at all, or like she would turn on me at any second. But that wasn't possible right, fledglings were always supposed to be able to trust the High Priestesses of Nyx. That was the reason that they were there- to convey Nyx's message to all under her House of Night.

Zoey stared at me as Neferet walked to the front of the room and gave me a weird look. She looked confused and also… happy. She signaled to me that we were going to have to get together later and talk about whatever was going on.

The rest of the class period was okay. It wasn't the best lecture that I had ever listened to. Neferet was brimming over the top with power. Not only that but she seemed bent on proving something to everyone about how humans were inferior to Vamps and Fledglings alike. She kept telling us how the mythology of humans had messed up the facts from the past and twisted them to fit their liking. It was getting old fast. I felt like screaming at her "We get the point already, can we move on yet?!" I didn't move through most of the lesson. At the end I was sore from sitting still so long. I got up and stretched as Damien and I walked to our next class.

We walked into English/Literature which is my strongest subject. It was way different than when I was going to Sharland. All of my previous teachers believed that just because we were young that we couldn't comprehend the different tactics and styles of literature. We used to listen to the teachers and then mock them later. Katelin would go up and imitate Ms. Craig and say;

"Ya'll got nothin to talk about back there! Ya'll crazy kids gonna get yaselves in a herd of troubles one day with no un to blame but yaselves!"

Then Jasmin would start joking about how Katelin did that a little too well. I sighed. I couldn't believe that they hadn't made any contact with me in the last two days, weren't they supposed to make me feel better when I was sad? Thinking about all of my friends was making me depressed. I wanted to get off the subject of them so instead I started to study the teacher. She was different from Neferet, but not in a bad way. She was interesting because when she read to us she was able to tell us in-depth facts about the events of the past- because she was there. She was born decades before any of us and it was fascinating because she would suddenly stop to tell us cool facts. It wasn't anything like how my old teachers used to treat us. She seemed to respect us and any input that we offered. It was good to know that at least here the teachers would take you seriously. I was starting to let my thoughts drift and the next second all I could feel was Damien nudging me in the side.

I looked up to see him standing already. In this class, today, it was easy to lose myself which was unusual because I always used to pay attention- especially in English. He looked expectantly at me as we were about to part by the doorway. I looked back at him having no clue as to what he expected. He sighed and gave me a look that clearly stated that he thought I would know what to do.

"Can you honestly tell me that I've been away so long that you've forgotten good-bye hugs?" He asked me. It came rushing back. Damien never was one to be a girly gay guy but that didn't stop him from giving out best friend hugs!

* * *

I am so sorry I know that this is another filler chapter. You should definitely PM me and tell what you think her powers ( yes power**S**, as in mulitiple) should be. I am so stumped. Tell me- do you guys think that I should use some of the powers from the Twilight Saga? I think it would be fun to write! PM ME or review hehe!

**I would like to thank my reviews that I unfortunately could not email as I would have liked to: **

**ellil- **thanks for being my 1st reviewer!!!

**ShyNotScared13- **totally appreciate your advice and filling me in on what's going on with my story!**  
**

**Vampire-lover19- **thanks for catching my mistakes, it's good to know that people really pay attention to details. I don't have a Beta reader since I'm new to Fanfiction sooo yeah hopefully I can catch all of my future mistakes...

**Daughters Of Night- **thanks for reviewing! I'm glad to know that you like it so far!

**short_court- **I know that I am taking a lot of time on the background information but I plan on basically writing a book, the only difference is that I won't get it published into an ACTUAL book. Thanks for the great advice.

**Obsessed-over-Emmett- **I never knew that Lela meant Twilight in Greek, I am a TwiHard freak and majorly obsessed, more than anyone I know so it's great to know that the two books that I love have some kind of connection! Thanks so much for the new info!**  
**

**babylopez2008- **sorry it's so confusing for you but I promise that I'm going to try to clear a few things up over the span of the book.

**rocktheroxie- **I'm so happy that you like it so far! Keep reviewing

**Ilove4everJasperHale- **Thank you for the review and I promise i'm trying to get more of the chapters out quickly so hopefully you'll see what happens soon!

To a really great reviewer that I had ---special thanks to **_ste11una_**

**Thank you so much for all of the reviews. All of my reviewers have no idea how special you guys are! Seriously you keep me writing when I start to think that no one is reading! I'm really glad that you like the idea of Damien being her long 'lost' best friend and her 'shimmering mark'. I really didn't know how my readers would react to the idea... I'm glad your not confused anymore even though I think that I'm starting to get confused by my own writing, which isn't the greatest thing. Hehe... **

Okay guys I'm still waiting for reviews I've got 553 hits and only 10 reviewers... that doesn't seem that great to me so go ahead and click the little green and white button down there cause you know you want to !!! LOL I hope you guys liked this chapter and

seriously PM ME ABOUT LELA'S POWERS

**{{{PLEASE}}}**


	13. Horror of Darkness

Sorry guys, we switched internet connections. It may be a little bit before I update again so enjoy!

Chapter 13

Horror of Darkness

So the rest of the week went pretty well. I couldn't get the image of the cat from my dreams out of my head. I know it sounds weird but there was this inane tugging under my skin that told me that she was around somewhere. Every time I turned a corner I would get that funky feeling that eyes were watching me, I knew that the other fledgling were watching me, and Zoey had said that I should definitely expect that. The difference was there though, I could tell that they were the cats' eyes and it wasn't just one- it was all of the cats that were "ownerless". You could just tell that they expected something to happen and from the way they were staring- it had something to do with me.

I went to my classes and they weren't exactly the same as Sharland's. I have to say that a whole bunch of the classes were really cool and I could have definitely spent more time in the school library. About two days after I got to the House of Night my fencing teacher, Professor Dragon Lankford- although everyone called him Dragon, took us to the library and I was having the best time. I was always a book worm, so I guess that it wasn't that much of a surprise, and I seriously loved the library. I was thinking that it would be filled with a bunch of gory, disgusting, blood books but, boy, was I wrong! They had the best authors ever, not to mention the most amazing books! They had all of my favorite fiction books and the most up to date computers. Even though it was a school it seemed more like a collage campus to me.

Zoey was there by my side through most of everything. It was nice because it felt like I belonged. I had Damien, my best friend, back, and even though I felt immensely guilty that I was just barely thinking about Jasmin, Katelin, and Nirall I couldn't help but feel happy. I had my old friend back, and there was no way that I was giving him up again. On top of all of that euphoric-ness there was also the fact that one of the most **(... feared?... no that's not the word… admired? Well I guess that'll do) **admired group of fledglings had accepted me into their group. That was probably because of Damien, but it was still weird to me- every now and then I would catch Shaunee or Erin staring at my forehead and every time I would send them my signature "questioning look". They got used to it eventually, I guess, but I could still feel their eyes, along with every other fledgling's, on me. Add on Neferet scaring the hell out of me and the cat stares and you have a pretty non-normal first week of 'Vampyre Finishing School'.

I went to all of my classes that week and nothing was really all that interesting. I had the same classes in the same order every day. At Sharland you had a different schedule for every day of the week- talk about confusing! My teachers looked at me with a mixture of awe and fear, but they respected all of their students, and in turn we respected them. The only person that made my blood boil was Neferet. Not only did she lack respect for her students but she scorned them. No one else could really see that.

I would look into the other fledgling's eyes and I could see that they couldn't read her expressions. The only people who put out the same looks of contempt as me were Zoey, Damien, Shaunee, and Erin. I guess it was a group thing, but I also thought it was weird for me to catch on so quickly to the vibe that everyone was giving off, and it was even more weird how, even before I met Zoey, I understood that she wasn't someone that I could trust. I was truly freaking myself out because usually I was out of touch with other people. I would be off in my own little world- getting those weird feelings in my stomach and trying to weasel out the reasons behind them. Now all of the sudden I was catching vibes from people and just going with it??? Yes, this was getting a little too weird- even for me.

The last day of the week had just ended. I was walking down a path that went to the dorms, thinking about the speech Zoey gave to me about joining the Dark Daughters, when I heard this weird scratching noise. It was getting louder and louder as I walked away from it. I was getting more and more freaked by the second. I could hear nothing other than the scratching and I think that's what scared me most. Usually I could hear the sounds of creatures breathing or footsteps or something- even when I was human, and being a vampyre fledgling had only increased that ability, but all I could hear was the scratching. A shiver went down my spine- over the week Zoey had told me about her encounter with the ghost/spirits of dead vampyres and she was graphic. She had also told me that my most powerful sense was my intuition and right now my intuition was screaming at me to run and get the Hell out of there, but I couldn't move. I felt like my legs were pinned to the ground underneath me.

I was spooked by just the story and now here I was living in the nightmare itself. I could feel my body getting colder and I got this feeling that whatever was floating in the darkness could hurt me. Whatever it was, it wasn't anything good. The freaky sound wasn't metallic so it couldn't have been a machine and cats made less noise then that. I was trying to feel calm but my heart was pumping so fast I was sure that someone would come running asking "who's playing the drum?" My heart picked up speed as the sound got to a higher pitch and I was focusing all of my energy on stopping my racing heart in case whatever it was heard me. I gathered all the strength inside me and I was about to turn around - which in retrospect was probably stupid if I knew that it could hurt me- back towards the noise, but as soon as I moved a light caught my eye. I looked around me to find the source but I couldn't see any. My palm and forehead started to tingle and since I couldn't see my forehead without a mirror I instinctively looked down.

My hand was what was glowing! The glow had a bright green rim with a shimmering spectrum of colors filling the middle. I was frozen again, and I'm pretty sure that I had gone into shock. I looked up, back to the oak tree that was blocking me from whatever was making the noise, but instead of seeing the tree I couldn't see anything. Had I gone blind? And why had everything just gotten colder? I literally felt frozen- and I couldn't move. I could sense something surrounding me, and soon a spiral of wind was wrapping around me. Whatever had made the high-pitched noise had stopped. My 'intuition', as Zoey called it, told me that my blindness was being caused by the thing and that it was probably what was surrounding me. That only made my breath come more quickly and my heart speed up. I could feel my hands convulsing even though I couldn't see them. My Mark turned freezing and then went numb. I put my hands up to my face with my palms facing forward, which was a defensive position that we had learned in gym last year. Whatever IT was suddenly let out a piercing screech and then stopped as soon as my hands went to my face. I felt my breathing stop, I didn't feel cold anymore and the wind had dropped after picking up for, like, ten seconds. I waited a few more minutes, just standing there. My eyes were closed and I got the feeling that if I opened them I probably would be blind anymore.

I let out a breath that I hadn't known that I was holding. I was so glad that whatever it was had gone away. Its presence had giving me a sense of horror and fear that wouldn't disappear even after IT, whatever IT was, had. I had been learning quickly to listen to that intuition and as I searched inside myself for what to do next Nyx's words came to my mind,

"_You are not "just some fledgling" because you are special. You see the truth immediately while others linger on false pretenses."_

I felt better as soon as the words entered my thoughts. They were just words though and they didn't have the caring tone of the Goddess added to them so they didn't erase all of the horror that had entered my mind. I could hear myself breathing and nothing else. My breaths were short, shallow, and fast. Man, was I glad that I hadn't inherited my mother's acute asthma! I turned around to face the opposite direction and ran for the cover of the dorms. I almost fell four times, which was odd because the ground was smooth and I wasn't a klutz- well most of the time… I ran right up the stairs to mine and Zoey's dorm room and at that point I really didn't care who was staring. I stopped right in front of the door. I had to think first.

I sat down a couple of feet down the hall from the door. That was just some type of dream, right? Nothing that weird could have happened during my first week. I talked myself into believing that I wasn't seeing clearly that way. That was probably why I saw the glow and then went blind. It was just cold. The wind had picked up and it was all my imagination. I was still felt terrified and I was sure that my eyes were wide as I stood up and walked to the door. Zoey looked up from her homework, she had been cross-legged on the bed, but as soon as she saw the look of pure terror in my eyes she immediately flung herself upwards.

She grabbed my hand and we ran to Shaunee and Erin's room. I hadn't really been there that much, but oh my goodness, it was HUGE! They had these amazing, and of course, totally in style beds which were Twin four-posters with some wicked awesome comforters. They each had a vanity and desk with their laptops open and waiting. Their carpet looked like it was thick enough to be a mattress itself and the walls were a soft lilac color. They had a gold trim where the walls met and it showed that they paid great attention to detail. There were neat piles of Seventeen Magazines on their dressers and the closet must have been the biggest one on campus. It was stuffed to the brim with clothes and they had a separate closet that was only a tiny bit smaller than the first which of course held and endless supply of shoes that were organized by season color and fashion. I had to admit that if I had, had all of those shoes then I probably would have only worn the sneakers. Granted, Shaunee and Erin wore only a couple pair for P.E. but they were definitely of a designer origin. Shaunee and Erin's families had big money and I do mean BIG. They weren't as rich as Aphrodite, the biggest Bitch on the House of Night grounds, but they came pretty close.

Zoey dragged me in and shut the room door. She told Erin to get out her cell phone and call Damien. I didn't get why she was acting all freaked. I mean, honestly, she didn't even know what was going on. I guess it was because she had been through this kind of thing before. Either that or she knew the look of horror that was now dominant on my features. I tried to compose my face. I looked over to where Shaunee and Erin were sitting. They were staring at me, as usual, but they seemed almost as worried as Zoey. I decided to ignore all of the pity and fear in their before it could make my stomach ache. I turned back towards Zoey, who apparently thought that Shaunee was being too slow today. She had taken the cell phone off of the charger and was speaking quietly yet quickly to Damien, explaining why he suddenly hat to come to the girls' dorm room in the middle of the night/day. I still wasn't getting why she was using such a clipped to. If it had been any one else talking to Damien like that I would have smacked 'em, but this was Zoey and I knew that she was just worried. I could also tell that Damien was being difficult. Over the last week I had learned how to read not only Zoey's expressions but her tone of voice as well, but I could only hear part of what was being said:

"-ause she does… just come down?...No, what do you mean?"

She was almost pleading by then. Damien must still not be comfortable with me being as different, and apparently as important, as Zoey. I still had no idea why he was being so uptight. Up until then I'd been trying to ignore it but I made a snap decision right there to confront him-soon.

Zoey looked back to me. By her expression you could tell that she was being way too serious about all of this. She looked away from me, to Shaunee and Erin. They stared right back at her. They both had blank question marks blaring out from their faces. She turned back to the phone, most likely because she didn't have any answers to their questions. As she turned away I realized that anything I said would sound crazy. There was nothing that should have scared me. It was just some weird noise AND we were on the House of Night grounds where weird noises were probably common AND since this was only my fifth day here it wasn't exactly like I knew all of the sounds that were made around here.

Okay, yeah, the sound wasn't really human, fledgling, cat, or any other common animals for that matter but I didn't actually have any idea of what _was_ on campus. And alright, yes, I admit that it had filled me with a sense of fear and foreboding but honestly, maybe it was just some scratching… thing? Either way it was nothing and here I was watching everyone fuss over this little nothing of a problem. That added to the fact that I was mentally incapacitated and my mind was playing tricks on me just made me sound more insane- even to myself! And if I told them that my hands had started to glow they would take me to a Vamp mental hospital.

I looked back over to Zoey who was still on the phone with Damien. She looked way too stressed out and as her new room-mate I felt guilty for being the one to put that stress on her. I could feel Shaunee and Erin's eyes on my back as I walked over to her with, what I hoped was, a tranquil expression. I took the phone from her ear and nodded my head when she gave me a questioning look. Her tension relaxed and I put the phone to my ear. Damien was still talking, unaware of the phone exchange.

"-told you this would happen. Nothing good is going to come from this. If she looked worried then something was definitely wrong and I do-" I cut him off right there. If he thought that it was a bad thing that I had this Mark then that was going to get him into trouble with me. It already felt like it was supposed to be apart of my life, and I knew that it was already making an impact on my personality. Before I never would have made friends with these perfect strangers or just taken the phone from Zoey like that. Now I was more confident and here Damien was trying to say that nothing good was coming from it? He didn't even know what was wrong!

"Damien?"

"Wait, Lela? Where'd Zoey go?"

"I just needed to talk to you for a minute." I decided to try and use reverse psychology on him, I just hoped that it worked.

"You don't need to come down, I'm seriously okay, it was nothing big- you guys just make a big deal out of everything." I sighed like it was nothing new to me. There was silence on the other end for a good two minutes before he started to speak again.

"No, it's okay I can come down. I mean if it's nothing big then something did happen and it could turn into something big." He was starting to go into his scholar voice, something that only happened when he was trying to stay calm and look at all of the perspectives of a problem. I internally smiled at the fact that my reverse psychology had actually worked, but my thoughts turned black as I realized that I had just made my problem bigger. I had nothing to tell them, just that some squeak in the night had scared the living crap out of me, and how I had been seeing glowing and then gone blind, and now I was convincing Damien that he should come down, but I couldn't do anything because I could already hear him picking up his jacket and getting ready to come.

"I'll see you in five, Kay?" Then he hung up. I don't see why people do that. I mean if you ask someone if it's okay for them to come down then you would usually wait for an answer… Anyways, I clicked the end button and turned back to face the girls. Even though it had seemed really long, the conversation had been quick, only like three or four minutes. When I turned around Shaunee and Erin were giving me identical looks of awe and Zoey had a huge grin on her face.

"What?" I asked, suddenly feeling strangely self-conscious. Had I done something stupid or wrong? Why were they giving me the weird looks?

"Nothing it's just that you have more skill than all of us put together." Zoey answered. She still had that weird smile on her face.

"You guys are seriously starting to freak me out, what's with the riddle?" I was honestly curious as to why she was making me guess what she was talking about.

"Oh she didn't mean anything freaky, just that you have Damien wrapped around your little finger," Shaunee said with a sly smile.

"And we do mean that he's wrapped around it. He doesn't listen to us, EVER, and now you got him to come down here within two minutes." Erin went on to say.

"Zoey spent at least ten over there trying to convince him," Shaunee said.

"And now he's coming just because you say not to, nice touch twisting around the request, by the way." Erin finished. I guess she understood the little psychology bit. Zoey was still grinning like a fool.

"What's with the smile, Zoey?" I asked. I was a little scared of her now. She just made the grin wider.  
"Oh, it's just that we could use Damien's protective side against him some time." What was she talking about "protective side"? I didn't understand any of what was going on.

"What do you mean?" Everything was getting more confusing by the second.

"Come on, Lela." You have to realize that Damien is super protective of you, which is one of the many reasons that he's wrapped around your finger. You guys go back a long way. I mean you were childhood-best-friends which means that he's gonna be protective of you no matter what. Not to mention the fact that he's way worried about you being upset with him for never calling or anything in the past couple of months that he's been away from you." She kept going but I was basically tuning her out. It was starting to make sense now. Damien had a big brother-like quality that kept him from doing anything stupid that he knew I would be upset over. That also meant that he was "wrapped around my finger" as Shaunee and Erin were saying. They were thinking that I could use this new found power over him for 'evil'. It was actually pretty hilarious. There was really nothing to use it for, rather than to get him to come down to our dorm when he was being to thick-headed for the others to deal with him.

With all the time I'd spent with Shaunee and Erin I've come to find that the only thing they would want to use my 'power' for would be to get Damien to go shopping with them and use his incredible sense of fashion. I had to admit that even after all of this time he still had a gift for coming upon clearance sales for Prada Shoes and Gucchi bags. And oh man, does that boy have the ability to find good cashmere! Shopping was never really something that I had the opportunity to do. Most of my friends thought that just because I wore some slightly baggy clothes and only tennis shoes, oh and of course I wore jeans at all times, that I didn't have a sense of fashion. The truth was that my family didn't have lots of money to just go spending, and my mom was a penny pincher. She liked to get things cheap and that wasn't always a bad thing. (Once I found some awesome lights for my room when I went shopping with her one.)

Suddenly someone's hand was waving in front of my face. It was then that I realized that I had spaced out for a couple of minutes and Zoey was trying to get my attention.

"Hello, anyone in there, Earth to Lela." My eyes focused on the closest thing to me. Zoey was sitting next to me on Erin's bed and she had put her hand down.

"What?" Whoa I didn't mean to sound that snappy.

"Jeez it takes some work to get your attention," she muttered, "I asked what was going on. You know, before you got to the dorm room." This was what I was dreading to talk about there wasn't really that much to say, and nothing had really happened. I guess that I could always use the fact that they overacted as a defensive maneuver… They were still waiting for an answer and I noticed that Damien had finally gotten here and he was talking to Shaunee and Erin about the new sales. (I knew that they would try to butter him up for a shopping trip! If they didn't get him to come along they would get me to use my 'power' on him instead, I suppose.) As soon as they heard what Zoey was asking about they turned their attention to me. I thought I was going to get really nervous but instead I felt calm. I knew that I would have to explain to them eventually and even if they thought I was crazy then Damien would probably be happy that my Mark didn't mean anything bad was going to happen to me. He would be really understanding about the entire thing, that's how he had always been. If nothing had changed in the short time that we had been away from each other that is.

I looked back at their eager, yet scared, faces. They probably thought that something had attacked me (which technically I thought that something had, but honestly I was probably just going insane), and Shaunee and Erin looked ready for some good gossip. I had learned that if anything had to do with gossip it had to do with Shaunee and Erin. I felt like clearing my throat or something just to stall but that would be too obvious. What was I afraid of anyways? That they would reject me? That they would shun me from their group? That was absolutely ridiculous. Damien would always be there for me and I knew that, because of his weird protectiveness for me. I think that they could tell I was nervous, or afraid, or whatever. They had looks of sympathy, and they probably knew how hard it was to be the 'New Kid' to the House of Night.

"Nothing, seriously guys. Nothing's going on. I guess that Zoey just overreacted a little." I was trying to blow it off, and from the looks on their faces they could tell.

"Oh nu uh, you are not blowing off any good gossip," Shaunee said.

"Not if there's a chance that we can get our hands on it." Erin finished, in true Twin style.

"From what Zoey was telling me, it looked like you had seen a ghost or something." Damien added. This was seriously not helping my situation. They were not going to drop it. I looked back to Damien and he looked really worried. He had learned at a young age that if I was ever hesitant to say something that it was either some huge news, or that I was crazily nervous. A sympathetic look crossed his face. He gave me a small nod.

"It wasn't seeing a ghost, more like NOT seeing a screeching thing…" Wow that made me sound crazy and I wished that I could take the words back and shove them down my throat. They looked at me for a second but I didn't meet their gazes. Just as I was about to think that nothing could get more awkward Damien spoke up in a voice that made me think that maybe I wasn't crazy after all. It sounded reassuring and totally like a best friend would.

"Okay, Lela, start from the beginning. What happened before you got to your dorm room?"

" Um, it was nothing just that I-was-walking-and-this-screeching-sound-started-and-everything-was-cold-and-I-was-blind-and-myhandsglowed-and-then-it-went-away-butitwasprobablymyimagination-sorry."

"Okay, Lela could you go over that one more time for us so that we could actually understand?" Damien asked.

I then went into a detailed account of how I was walking to the dorms when the screeching started and how there was a weird glow but I didn't see where it was coming from when I looked around and then my Mark and hands started to tingle and my hands were glowing. Then about how I went temporarily blind and then it was freezing. Zoey had an interested look on her face when I mentioned how my intuition was telling me things. Like, how I just knew that it was around me causing my blindness. Damien actually squeaked when I said that IT went away as soon as I put my hands up. After I finished they stared at me for about five minutes with looks that just screamed "You are totally insane!". The only person who looked slightly composed was Damien. He had a look on his face that showed that he was thinking deeply.

Zoey finally snapped out of it and she put on the same face as Damien. The twins were the last to get out of the fog, but when they came out their expressions didn't really change that much. They looked like they thought I was crazy and that the only reason that I was still in their room was because Damien would kill them if they kicked me out. Zoey come out of her deep-in-thought position. She stared at me, running her eyes over my expression of fear and embarrassment. Suddenly she smiled. I didn't understand her expression but at her next words Damien's jaw locked and his teeth started to grind- a sure sign that he was blistering mad.

"Well we're just going to have to test this."


	14. Connecting the Dots

**Alright so I'm really sorry that my chapters are being spaced out, so yeah. Unfortunately I don't have an excuse this time so all I've **

**got to say is that the next chapter is going to be out really soon and that I've already got chapters 15-17's outines so yea! Okay on**

**that note, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast own it all.**

The Test of Truth

I stared at her stunned for a moment. I had no idea what she meant but apparently it wasn't anything good. Damien's jaw was clenched so tightly that I thought he was going to crack his teeth. Of course, as soon as he saw my reaction to his expression he immediately tried to calm himself. Zoey looked back and forth between us, seeming to understand the exchange she tried to explain whatever I had missed.

"Your affinity. It's totally clear now that you have one!" She was almost shouting in all of her excitement but then Damien just had to go and say something that made her look as if she had just been kicked.

"What about the shadow creature…thing?" Why, oh why, did he have to bring that up again? Zoey had been happy and excited a second ago and now she looked depressed and serious. Again I felt a surge of guilt at causing her distress on only my first week here. Shouldn't new room-mates be kind and shy instead of hogging all of the attention and pushing burdens on to their dorm partners? God I was getting sick of myself. I still didn't think I even had an affinity, but it had made Zoey happy for a little while so I would try whatever would keep her happy as long as it didn't cause me bodily harm… Zoey was about to start talking but I beat her to it before she could ruin her own joy.

"Damien I probably just imagined the whole thing. I was alone so there was no one else to see it there. For all we know my mind could've created the shadow creature because of my over-active imagination or out of fear." I hoped that he would just let it go but he locked eyes with me, and gave me a look that said he didn't believe a word that had just left my mouth. I stared right back at him and while Zoey was looking his way I stared pointedly at the back of her head, trying to tell him with my eyes that I cared whether or not Zoey was happy or upset. I had only known her for a week but we were already close and, I didn't know about her, but it was like we were sisters to me. We both had the same likes and dislikes, we listened to the same music, had the same interests, and our opinions were freakishly close to being exactly the same.

He looked to Zoey's face after he figured out where I was looking and I guess that he got the message because he let me off but when he looked back at me I could read in his expression that he was going to talk to me later- alone so I could tell him about everything. Zoey was just two seconds slow of seeing out little exchange. She looked back to Damien then and she saw that whatever had been going on was over. I changed the subject. Evasive action was always the best when you didn't want to keep talking.

"So what now?" She gave me a confused look. "I meant what are we going to do about my 'affinity'?" I hoped that no one could hear the quotation marks around affinity. It was already painfully obvious to Damien that I didn't actually think that I had an affinity. I could see him rolling his eyes from my peripheral vision. Zoey's expression was clear again and she went into a description of what she thought we could do to test my "affinity". Again, I tuned most of it out after about two minutes. Damien was trying to get my attention. Knowing him he was able to listen to what Zoey was saying AND have a conversation through our eyes. I think that after a while Zoey got that we weren't really listening to what she was saying because she turned to face Shaunee and Erin. Usually she would be mad that we were basically ignoring her but she knew that what we had to "talk" about and she also knew that there was no way I was getting out of affinity testing this time. Therefore I would be involved in the planning at some time very soon anyway.

Damien had a weird expression on his face as we read each others eyes. He had this look that was really more like a few looks all mixed into one. He was concerned, scared, confused, and nervous all in one. My stomach was aching. It was a gut-wrenching pain, like my stomach was twisting inside of me. The only time that Damien wore that look was when he was seriously scared for one of his friend well being. I had seen it a whole bunch of times while I was dating some guys. Everyone knew that High School relationships rarely lasted over a few weeks and there was nothing really serious, but all the same, breakups were hard to deal with. He would always be there for me at the end of a breakup and he would have the very same expression. Concern was always the most evident emotion on his face. I was glad that I had him.

Although I had, had Jasmin she just wasn't as good as it as Damien. As I was thinking about this I realized that Damien and Jasmin had never met and that they probably never would. Damien had left before I met them, he probably hadn't even thought about me until I came to the House of Night. That thought just made my stomach hurt more. It may sound stupid but, it physically hurt to think that Damien had never thought about me in all of the months that we hadn't seen each other. I know that I had thought about him at least once every day. I had missed him like crazy! I never actually thought about my two best friends meeting. It was difficult to imagine. I guess it was because before, it would have been impossible. Humans were rarely allowed into the House of Night, and human _teenagers_ were allowed in even less often. The most important thing to the head Vamps was the safety of the fledglings. For the same reason, fledglings weren't allowed out of the House of Night unless they wore cover up over their Marks. They had a special cover up that was given to each student. It was self-adjusting so one type fit all of the fledglings' complexions. It was actually really cool. Teenagers, in general, could be immature and careless. If any came to the House of Night then a fight would probably break out.

It would have been impossible to visit Damien. Maybe that was why Jasmin hadn't come to see me. But that still didn't explain why she hadn't called or sent me a text message. Maybe she thought that now I was a freak… NO! I immediately pushed that thought out of my mind. She was always there for me. Even when I came into consciousness she was there for me, she hadn't left my side for the entire time that I had been out. I looked at Damien again. He was still wearing that expression. It says a lot about your true friends when, even if they haven't seen you for months, they can do exactly the right thing to help you come back to the real world. Damien was my true best friend. What did that make Jasmin? She had always been there for me but Damien was too… If anyone could hear the babble that was taking place in my head right now they would think that I was crazy.

I looked towards Shaunee and Erin and I figured out that Zoey had finished talking. She was staring expectantly at the Twins. She was waiting for an answer, I was guessing that she had told them all about her plans on how to test me for my affinity and she was waiting for them to give some input. They looked dumbstruck. Either they couldn't have anything to say or they didn't know how to respond. I was suddenly glad that I hadn't listened to Zoey's speech. The torrents of information she had unleashed on Shaunee and Erin was enough to make them speechless. Apparently Damien hadn't been paying attention to the conversation after all because he had on the same incredulous face as me. Zoey noticed that we were paying attention again and she searched between our faces to see if we accepted all of her planning. Her face fell.

"Well, we can try something different if you guys don't want t-," I cut her off there because even though I hadn't heard more than a couple pieces of the plans that she had come up with I knew that she was just beating herself up over nothing. Her ideas were always good and if she was using her intuition then she probably got the right idea of how to 'test' me.

"Zoey I'm sure that it's going to help figure out what my 'affinity' is." I tried to reassure her but she had known that Damien and I hadn't been listening, therefore my input was hallow and there was really no reassurance to it. She gave me a small smile.

"Thanks for trying, but seriously if you guys have any other ideas then you should tell us- if it's gonna help, put it out there!" She was trying to get us to contribute some ideas, but unfortunately my head was as hallow as that last reassurance. The Twins had mirror looks of doubt on their faces even though they were trying to hide them. Damien spoke up just as the silence was becoming deafening.

"Zoey, were going to try your idea and, even if it doesn't work we'll come up with something else." He was trying his hand at reassurance as well. Fortunately, he was better at it than I was. I nearly rolled my eyes at the thought of using some method to find an affinity that didn't actually exist, but I could just imagine the look of hurt crossing Zoey's face. I sighed.

"So there's really no way that I'm getting out of this, huh?" I hadn't meant it to be funny, but they laughed at my reluctant tone.

"Of course your not getting out of it, we wouldn't pass up an opportunity like this," Shaunee stated.

"That would be almost as bad as passing up a pair of fabulous boots," Erin chimed in."

"Or saying no to dates with Cole and T.J.!" Of course Shaunee would mention boys.

"Oh, it would be a Damn shame to pass those up, Twin!" Erin was nearly hyperventilating at the very thought of passing up dates with their latest infatuations. I sighed again.

We decided that we would go down to the huge rec. room, that the Daughters of Night held their Full Moon Rituals in, the next night almost as soon as dinner was over with. It was already late when we had gotten here and now it was nearly 2 in the morning. It wasn't the best time for Damien to be in the girls' dorm rooms. We talked a little while longer, but it was mainly gossip. At around 2:20am they had gotten around to explaining how to get to the Rec. room to me. I was glad that Damien had brought it up or else I would have totally forgotten.

"So basically you follow the wall from the Dining Hall and go past a big Oak tree and you'll see the Rec. ro-" I cut him off right there, almost immediately after he had said "Oak" I got the weirdest feeling in my stomach, but it wasn't one of the old feelings that I used to get. This felt like a sharper jab. My intuition spiked and I knew that it had something to do with my visit to the Spirit World and meeting Nyx.

"Wait, is the Oak tree really old and the branches curve into the tree instead of away from it?" I asked it hesitantly, although I had no reason to be. Zoey looked away from the conversation that she was having with the Twins. She looked more intrigued than she had in the last twenty minutes.

"Yeah," she said, "it's over by the East side of the school. In fact it's right next to the East wall." She went on to say. I just sat there. Even though I knew that it had something to do with the Spirit World trip the only connection that I could come up with was the fact that I had spoken with Nyx under an old Oak tree by a wall. Something clicked then. The tree was important to Nyx and the powers of the Vampyres from this school. The comprehension must have been clear in my eyes because Zoey came over and sat next to me.

"What is it?" she asked. I had never actually told her how I got to the Spirit World. I had only said what Nyx and I had said to each other while I was there. I was surprised that I had been so preoccupied lately that I had forgotten to fill her in on ever detail. I stared blankly into space until I could feel Zoey shaking my shoulders- bringing me back to the real world. I didn't know why the trees location was connected to our plans but that Oak tree was the same one that the creature, _thing, _had attacked me next to and it was the same tree that Nyx and I had sat under in the spirit world, which could only mean that Nyx was near the school at almost all times! I was trying to think this through but, like most of my epiphanies, it was interrupted.

I don't think I looked scared, just surprised, but Damien was getting weird about all of this again.

"Lela?" that was strange, he sounded scared.

"Yes?" I asked in, what I hoped, was a neutral tone, while on the inside I was in shock. I could feel that much but I still wasn't afraid of the situation. My head was starting to hurt but that sometimes happens when I'm trying to hard to hide crazy emotions from my friends. I could remember when I would get headaches from trying to calm myself for Jasmin's sake. I looked back to Damien and the others. At first they looked confused and then startled.

"What?" Looks like I wasn't being neutral after all. They just stared at me in awe. They were looking at my eyes but not seeing past them; I could tell that they weren't really trying to read my expression, it was more like they were trying to decipher why something was different, I didn't feel different at all. I looked around to all of their faces. Zoey just stared at me, they didn't even make an attempt to conceal their gawking. I could feel a thick tension settling in the room.

"Was it just me or did anyone else see that?" she asked quietly.

"Nope saw it too." Damien said in a fascinated voice. Oh great (heavy on the sarcasm) more riddles!

I sighed dramatically, "What are you guys going on about now?" I asked in an exasperated tone. They looked at me like I was crazy, again. This time Shaunee broke the stunned silence first.

"It's your fuckin' eyes!" My hand automatically traveled to my face. Good God, what now? Erin handed me a mirror. As I peered into it I only had one thought,

_ As if I haven't gone through enough drama in the past week…_

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	15. Turn of Events

I'm soooooo sorry that I took so long to get this chapter out. I can't believe that it's actully been like -what- a month(?) and a half since I last updated. Anyways I'll try to update sooner so I hope that this chapter with **Damien's POV (!!!!!!!!!!) ** helps gain forgivness so you can put your knives away now.

Oh and for those of you who PM-ed me about it Damien is _not_ going to turn straight to date Lela. He loves her like a _sister _**not **a girlfriend!

On with the story ...

Turn of Events

I blinked at my reflection in the compact and I immediately froze. The air was still heavy. I could feel a pressure building up on the back of my neck, and the deafening silence wasn't helping my nerves at all. I could feel Zoey's eyes boring into the back of my head as she tried to catch my eye, but my gaze stood locked on the tiny mirror.

Staring back at me were multicolored orbs that I didn't recognize. For a minute I believed that I was imagining things but everything was still silent. The pressure building up on my neck was creeping towards my shoulders. Damien started blabbing, most likely trying to explain the new "progress" but I was still stunned. After a while Damien's tone changed, and the next words he said made me mad as hell.

"She never should have been included in this!"

_Damien's POV _(_!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)_

This should have never happened. Lela was supposed to lead a completely different life. No one was supposed to come with me or follow me when I was Marked. This was a different life for me. Don't get me wrong, of course I loved Lela like a sister, but she wasn't supposed to become a vampyre fledgling- especially now, when things had just gotten so dangerous in the "vamp world". Now she was supposed to be one of the Chosen? It was wonderful that she was, she was and amazing person and she definitely deserved some reward for being the caring, selfless, beautiful person that she was, but now was not the right time. She was going to get hurt, or worse, it was possible that she wouldn't make the Change. I couldn't stand losing her to that kind of death. It just wasn't a choice for her or for me.

This was all wrong. As soon as I realized this I stopped my educational lecture short. I then started ranting about how this was a horrible thing. Some of the things I was saying were a bit harsh, I knew that, but I couldn't stop the words that flew out of my mouth. It was like word vomit. The second I thought that it would stop more just came gushing out. I could tell that Lela snapped out of the dream world that she was captured in because she suddenly tuned in to my talk near the very end of the rant because she looked positively furious.

"She should never have been included in this!" I very nearly shouted. Whoa, that sounded not only harsh but just plain cruel. Lela's eyes widened in hurt and then flattened out to anger almost instantly. I knew at that very second that she was blazing mad at me. There was no denying the betrayed look in her eyes. Getting her upset wasn't the best idea at the moment, considering the fact that we just found that she had some type of "power" and we had no idea what she was capable of. Her eyes flashed at me; turning from black to red and then back again. In that second I felt a shiver of genuine fear flash down my spine, which was completely ridiculous. She was my best friend and here I was- afraid of her. Her body took on a red tinged glow. I knew that if she didn't calm down then we might get a small dose of her soon-to-be-revealed "power".

She must have seen me start to shake and she seemed horrified that she was the source of my fright. She then tried to calm herself. It was interesting to watch. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath but she still glowed red. Zoey, Shaunee, and Erin were watching us as well. Erin was the first to process the fact that she was actually _glowing _which was entirely abnormal for anyone- vampyre or not. Lela started to sway in her concentrated state and Erin put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. Erin's touch seemed to send a rippling effect through Lela's body and at first Erin was frightened that she had hurt her but she didn't let go. As Erin held on Lela looked like she was absorbing some of the calming energy that she had sent out and the red tinge turned blue instead. One second her eyes were flashing and the next she was completely still. When she opened her eyes again Erin and I gasped.

Zoey and Shaunee were on the opposite side of the room, still in their semi-circled position from the discussion of Lela's power and had no way of seeing Lela's face but Erin and I had the perfect view.

Lela's normally hazel eyes (well before they turned multicolored, of course) were now a shockingly, icy blue color. As was the 'aura' that now surrounded her. When we gasped you could tell that she tensed up and was anxious. As soon as the new (anxious) mood was all the way processed she shivered and her eyes took on a clear gray/gold color. Again we were struck by the impossibility of the events that were taking place. As far as I knew (and, not trying to brag or anything, but that's pretty far) there were no vampyres that could change their physical appearance unless they were heavily gifted by Nyx and, according to the Vampyre Historical Text books, even if they were that was only a small portion of the power that they had control over.

My face must have given away the fact that, even though I was upset about her being in danger, I was stunned. Her expression turned smug and her smirk wasn't warming me up to her either. You could tell that even though she was happy that _I_ was in awe of _her_, instead of the other way around for once, she was still apprehensive of _what _I was in awe about. But _dear Nyx_- she was frikken glowing! From what I read this couldn't mean anything good. It meant that she was showing only a fraction of the power that she had and it was the least physical as well as the weakest of her many powers. In a way she was completely equal to Zoey when she was engaged in a battle, as all female vampyres could be (joy, yet another thing to worry about, like I needed to think about her getting hurt at all). My little rant was becoming a worse idea by the second because this definitely meant that she had more power than me and we were only just discovering it. She hadn't even reached full potential yet! And if her powers had anything to do with the elements, then I was in trouble. She could wash me away with water or send flames on me with fire. She could flatten me with Earth in less than 5 seconds. She could blow me away with my own wind in even less time than that.

Zoey looked at my still-in-awe expression for about 1.3 seconds before she came to stand at my side instantly to see what was up. She and Shaunee looked at Lela and of course Shaunee; being her usual rude-crude self was the first to come up with a biting sentence to break the never ending silence.

"Well, fuck, if that ain't an insane situation then I don't know what is."


	16. Sisters of Night, svayi ulv

**Hey guys, I'm so sorry that I haven't updated like I said I would. I just finished HUNTED and Oh. My. God.**

**That was PHENOMENAL!!!!! I can't tell if there's another book after this one, cause it kinda just left you hanging, Does anyone know if another one is coming out after it? I'm not gonna discuss it on my review page since I don't want to give anything away but feel free to PM me if you know anything! I'm Hooked. Here's a nice, long chapter to make up for my stupid non-updating crap! I hope u guys liked Damien's POV and My next idea is being based off of this chapter so, with out further ado-**

**On With the Fanfic!**

**And yes the chapter's name really is in Cherokee (cool right?).**

_**sv-a-yi u-lv**_

_**Sisters of Night**_

We all looked at Shaunee. Even me, who was totally freaked out by the recent events which had flipped my world upside down, turned to look at her, and I have to say, what she was saying didn't sound far off the mark. The thing was that we just didn't want to face the fact that this was one of the weirdest things that had ever happened in the history of all vampyres, besides what had already happened to Zoey, that is. Everything had gone so fast and there was no way to tell what was going to happen next. It was all so spontaneous and my head was still spinning but I couldn't look at the seemingly inoffensive compact mirror, I was too freaked out.

I couldn't really wrap my head around the whole "eye-changing/life-changing" events that had just occurred right in front of all of my new friends. What did they think of me now? Did they think that I had turned into a freak? While all of this was going through my head I could only comprehend the fact that everyone was still staring at Shaunee in silent awe and you could tell that it was getting really awkward for her. Zoey was the first to break the awkward silence.

"Okay, right well, now that said insane situation is over with we can move on right?" Yeah, right, that wasn't an awkward situation at all. Nope, not at all. I can't wait until this awkward stage of pre-friendship is over and done with and then we can just joke around. Unfortunately, right now I am swamped in some colossal crappy situation that probably isn't going to end soon.

"Anyways this may sound totally weird-especially coming from me- but I think that Shaunee is right." Damien said in a strained voice.

"Exactly what is she right about, Damien?" asked Zoey. There was this puzzled tone to whatever she said now. Like she wasn't exactly sure of what the outcome would be if she said something.

"Well quite obviously this is one of the weirdest things that has ever happened at the house of night before. Next thing you know cats will start talking to you!" I was still confused but I have to admit that this was entertaining. The way Shaunee and Erin's head kept bouncing back and forth between whoever was speaking. The way that Shaunee's eyes widened when Damien made the compliment about her being right for once in his book was way too amusing to miss out on.

I knew what was coming next no mattered what else happened; they were going to test me. Of course, being me it just _had_ to be right (insert sigh here).

"We need to learn more about this," said Damien. Wow, were things really getting that predictable around here? I couldn't help but notice that he said, "We". This was NOT what I was hoping for.

"Uh, 'we'?" I asked, still keeping a small bit of hope in the back of my mind so that it wouldn't be completely hopeless. There was no way that they were going to watch me try some freaky new thing that I had no idea how to control. If they were going to get involved they would be afraid of me. I could just feel the amount of power swelling inside of me as we spoke. Right then I wondered if that was how it felt all the time to Zoey.

"Yes 'we', Lela. If you're going through this then you're not doing it alone. We aren't going to bail out on you, no matter what." Damien said, knowing full well what I was thinking.

"We're not going to leave you alone in this, Lela." He spoke again with a reassuring smile. It wasn't that I didn't think they were going to help; it was that I knew that when they helped me they would be scared of me. The only person I wanted there with me, if anyone at all, was Zoey, and if that couldn't happen then I didn't _need_ any help.

"Wait, Lela thinks we're going to bail on her?" Erin asked in a confused voice.

"That's what I heard, Twin" Shaunee said.

"That's idiotic, we'd never do that!" Erin said with a _huff_.

"Duh, we wouldn't Twin. She probably thinks that were bumbling idiots by now." Shaunee went on to say.

"Well we may be two bumbling idiots, but we are two _fine _bumbling idiots." Said Erin.

"Would you two knock it off for one second?!" Damien shouted in an exasperated voice. I could practically feel my head swelling with the effort to keep up with their insistent chatter.

"Lela already has enough to think about without you two starting up with your mindless gossip and whatnot." Damien said. I glared at him as he turned back to look at me.

"What?" He asked, his tone changing from sharp to confused in an instant. I kept on glaring.

"Seriously, what'd I do this time?" He asked. I could practically see the wheels turning in his head trying to figure out why I was sending an icy glare his way.

"You know exactly what." I replied in a cold tone. His face turned into one of understanding and shame- Damien hadn't always been so nice. He would lash out at people who thought him being gay was disgusting and crude. That was how we met in the first place.

At first Damien had kept his feelings to himself when someone teased him but after a while he got tired of it. When I say he lashed out I meant it literally. He would get into loads of fights and his father had to take him out of school because he was earning a bad reputation for being a bad father and with him being an Elder of God, or whatever, he was forced to actually pay attention to Damien for once. My mother was a grief counselor back then when she had been nice to me. I felt sorry for him at first but he didn't want the pity. He just wanted to have people understand. He was using the same sharp tone from way back then, and it would lead to nothing good.

"Sorry," he mumbled, more to the floor than to me. I relaxed my facial muscles, now that he had calmed down enough to realize what was going on. I was surprised that something as simple as Shaunee and Erin babbling about their lives could set him off like that. It had never happened so suddenly before. Did your emotions become increased or something as you were going through the change? God, I can only imagine what a PMS-ing teenager girl would be like if her emotions were heightened even more. Jeez.

Zoey was looking back and forth in between with a look that went from fright, from Damien's mood swings, to pure puzzlement. I gave her a look that told her I would explain later. Obviously they had never seen Damien get that angry before, especially over such a small thing. Trying to help things along Zoey finished Damien's previous thought.

"Righhht, so anyways, like Damien was saying, were not going to leave you alone in this Lela. We're gonna do it together even if we have to force it on you." It was hilarious how her unconfident expression contradicted her sure tone, and although I felt like laughing at that moment I knew that there was no way that I was going to get out of it so I dropped the subject. Unfortunately, Zoey had other plans.

"Nuh uh, no way we are going to figure this out right _now_." Zoey said. And, darn it, just as I was about to make a mad dash for the door, Damien caught my arm and held me still. Shaunee and Erin started laughing at my panicked expression. I sighed, glanced longingly at the doors to the girl's main dorms and then looked back at Zoey.

"Alright, I guess I'll just have to get this over with."

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* * *

We walked down the stones of the hallway, our shoes making an echo in the dead of day (since we're vampyre fledglings, and night is day for us and day is night). I was glad that as we left the room Zoey hadn't tried to pull me along. Truthfully I had been scared ever since my first day here when Zoey tried to shake my hand. I had fallen into darkness as soon as our skin had touched. Which it barely had!

I was still scared of that darkness and what could possibly happen while I was submerged in it. I could be brain-dead by the time I was conscious enough to get up, that is, if I ever returned to conciousness. I knew that what I was thinking was not only irrational but illogical as well. Why would Nyx Mark me into this life if she was only going to take me out of the world once and for all? It made me scared because there was no telling what was going to come next.

In the next second I could remember all too clearly what happened.

My next thought was that I was sad that I still wasn't important enough for the Goddess to let me in on her plan for Zoey and me, and the rest of our "gang". At that moment Zoey took my hand. Although I was afraid of what might happen because of this I squeezed her hand back because she could probably tell how anxious I was and I wanted to reassure her. As soon as her flesh touched mine my worst nightmare seemed to become real. I felt the shock that was becoming familiar; go up through my arm and down my spine.

Zoey shuddered in time with me and at that moment I knew that nothing bad was going to happen. Nyx might have taken my life but there was no way that she would take Zoey's. I was of no importance, but the entire reason that Zoey was here was because our Goddess had special plans for her. I may as well have been the plain, unattractive sidekick, like in comics. From the way Zoey was shivering I could tell that she was going through the exact same thing.

The last thing I remember from before I blacked out was falling to the ground with Zoey and I still connected by our hands and a faint multicolored glow starting to form around us.

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* * *

As I awoke I could tell that I was somewhere entirely different than in the schools corridors. Somehow, even though my surroundings were unknown to me I felt like I had been here before, or at the very least, I had seen a picture of it. The shape of the land was what was the most familiar. I couldn't really explain it. I tried to get up to go and check what was past the hill that I was at the bottom of but I found that I was just an opaque creature… thing. I was basically a ghost, or spiritual energy or something.

I also discovered that someone was with me. Lying to my left was Zoey. She was still breathing (can ghosts breathe?) but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't manage to make her release her grasp on my hand. They stayed in the same position as when we collapsed in the hallway at school. After about two minutes of prying at her hand she woke up. She looked around in surprise, but it was obvious that she knew where we were. The look of recognition on her face was hard to miss.

There was a strange murmuring around me but it sounded like it was coming from inside my head, which was definitely beyond my norm. I looked at Zoey's wide eyes and mouth permanently O shaped mouth and I wished that I, desperately, that could hear her thoughts. Judging, by the way she stared back at me I could tell that we were thinking the same thing. In less than a second a flood of information overwhelmed my mind. I felt like I could scream from every ounce of knowledge that now filled all the gaps of my mind.

It was as if all my questions were answered, the only catch was that I had no idea where I had gotten all the answers from. I knew that we were in the spirit world and that it wasn't the easiest thing in the world to get here (note the sarcasm). There was only one person other than me that had been there before and that was Zoey. I was surprised that I could filter out what I had just learned and I could tell exactly what the situation had entailed. Something important was going to happen any minute.

"Oh, Goddess," I thought, "what now?"

"Lela?" Zoey asked.

"Yes?" I asked out loud, but there was no sound coming from my mouth. All that was there was a jade-colored spirally word forming in the air in the shape of the word "_yes_", like puffs of breath on a cold morning. I searched the depths of my newly acquired knowledge and I realized that no sound could come to be in this world of spirit. I looked around for the spirally letters in the air that signaled others when you spoke. Then it dawned on me that I had _heard_ her speak which is why I had paid attention in the first place. She was looking at me in surprise.

What had just happened? I stared back at her. There was no sound in this world and yet I had just clearly heard her speak.

"I have no idea what's going on but I think that we can speak to each other in a non-verbal way now." Her voice came again and when I listened harder I found that the low murmuring sounds in the back of my head must have been her thoughts the entire time. I tentatively tried it out, pushing my thoughts away from me and towards her.

"Wait, so can you hear me now?" I asked, I felt kind of stupid saying this in my head because if it didn't work then I was probably becoming schizophrenic. Luckily, I was mentally healthy and her reply came when I "tuned" into the vague words that formed in the back of my head.

"Yes, and you can hear me as well. Correct?" She asked. It was kind of cool in a creepy, stalker-like way. Getting into people's heads all the time would be distracting and not to mention a violation of personal space.

"I agree." Came Zoey's voice, "And, yes, I realize that by saying that into your head I was just proving your point." She added in a smug tone. Suddenly I felt a slight breeze in the air and I knew that whatever event I had known was coming was here.

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* * *

Zoey stared over the hill. I had no idea how she knew that whatever it was, was coming from that direction but I followed her lead anyways. I turned and a few minutes afterwards I saw a bright light. It was too bright to identify the silvery silhouette until they were right in front of Zoey and me.

"Nyx!" We blurted out simultaneously. We smiled at each other as my jade-colored words and Zoey's lavender-colored words mingled together in the air. Although we had spoken "out loud" in this strange world Nyx soon showed us that it was completely unnecessary.

"Hello my daughters. I see you have found your way into the spirit realm." Somehow Nyx was projecting the thoughts into our minds because Zoey and I could both hear her, though she did not speak. We sat in awed silence for about 3. 5 seconds before our thoughts exploded into a full round of questions but before our loud, obnoxious minds could deafen the Goddess, she put a hand up, which immediately silenced us.

"Before I answer your questions I would like to make quite a few things clear, regarding your earlier thoughts from the mortal realm." Nyx fixed her gaze on me and held my eyes for a long moment in a hard stare. I could tell that something I had thought earlier, while I was still in the "mortal realm" at the House of Night had upset Nyx. You could see a great sadness in her eyes and the last thing that I had wanted to do was to cause our Goddess any harm.

"Stupid me, thinking of things that didn't concern me and then upsetting Nyx. What was my purpose anyway? To make life more difficult for the peaceful live of fledglings?" I scolded myself, but unfortunately, I had forgotten all about the fact that both Zoey and Nyx could hear my thoughts at the moment. Nyx eyes looked even more sad and Zoey was screaming at me in her head.

"How could you say that, Lela?!" She thought sadly, yet in a scream rather than a whisper. "You aren't stupid, and you've made everyone's life better at the House of Night, not more difficult…. Well maybe not Neferet's but you get my point." She went on to think. I looked down at my feet, at a loss for words. As Zoey scream/whispered/thought, Nyx was gliding over to me. She lifted my head up by putting a finger under my chin.

"This is what I spoke of a moment ago my daughter. As you came to this realm, your thoughts became clear to me and it saddened me to know that you don't think I believe in you. You think that I would take your life away? I have chosen you and I would never let anything happen to you if I could stop it. You are not Zoey's sidekick- you are her equal and she has never thought of you as a sidekick. And I have special plans for you as well, Lela." Nyx said in a soft voice with a sad smile.

Zoey stared at me in shock. I could hear the mumble of her thoughts in the back of my head. She was wondering what Nyx was talking about and then, as she comprehended what Nyx was saying she was became…well not mad but devastated that I would think such things about myself and make assumptions of what she thought of me. She was also hurt that I thought she cared so little about me. I finally looked up to meet Nyx's eyes.

"You are special, Lela. It's why you are one of my two Chosen Daughters." I smiled up at her thinking about sincere apologies and how I'd never think like that again, knowing that she would hear them as well ( I gotta admit, mind connections came in handy).

"You have nothing to apologies for, Daughter; I should have proven my love for you from the beginning." She said with a genuine smile this time. She then looked at Zoey who, despite her earlier horror from my previous thoughts, was beaming as our Goddess proved just how much she loved us. You could see it in Nyx's eyes and hear it in her sincere words. Nyx startled me with her next words.

"You two care deeply for each other. It reaches far beyond the workings of the close bonds that most vampyre fledgling friends hold." She observed in a curious tone. Then her swelled with understanding, and at that moment I still had no clue to what she could be thinking of. I looked towards Zoey and saw her turn to me at the same time. She had the same puzzled expression on her face. Neither of us had any idea what Nyx would be thinking.

Nyx saw our confused expressions.

"My children this is a completely new happening." She spoke in an awed voice, which was odd since I thought nothing could throw our Goddess. "You two have formed a bond that is one of the strongest I have sensed in my existence." She almost whispered (in minds it's kind of hard to tell). "You have become something known as sv-a-yi u-lv, in the ways of your people Zoey but, of course, I don't expect you to be familiar with it Le-"

"I know what your talking about." I interjected in a stunned voice that didn't sound at all like me. Nyx stared at me like I was crazy while Zoey looked like she was incapable of speaking at the moment. Nyx, being the amazing Goddess that she was, recovered first.

"What is this you speak of Lela?" She questioned me.

"It means _Sisters of Night_, doesn't it?" I asked Nyx, barely whispering the thought/question in my head, and disregarding her question for the moment.

"Yes, my daughter, but how could you have kno-"

"My dreams," I replied calmly, inturrupting her yet again. For one 1/2 second I thought about how rude and disrespectful I probably sounded to our Goddess and I felt guilty, but then as I thought about my dream I forgot all about it. I knew that I sounded completely crazy but it was completely true. I started having weird dreams about a week before I was Marked and thrown into a world of utter chaos that I didn't understand. In my dream, I would walk along a stone wall, that looked oddly similar to the campus grounds wall at the House Of Night, but something urged me forward. It felt like a strong pull, and not from a some_thing _but a some_one_- I could feel their presense. As soon as I turned around a corner that lead to a nook in the walls I would hear a voice whisper;

"Welcome, my u-lv. Sv-a-yi u-lv. Welcome home." Every single time I was about to round the corner and uncover who the mystery person was I woke up, to my disappointment. Oddly enough, in my dream I automatically knew what "_sv-a-yi u-lv_" meant. It was the Cherokee words for Night Sisters. Or translated into english it meant Sisters of Night.

"Your _dreams_?" Nyx repeated skeptically.

"Yes, I dreamt of Zoey's voice." I knew what I had just said was definitely the truth. The odd feeling in my stomach was strong and sure this time. Of course, they had already seen the dream in my memories. This whole read your mind in the Spirit world was helping a lot. Nyx gave Zoey an odd look. Nyx might be able to hide her thoughts from me because this was her domain but Zoey and I were connected, something she hadn't quite figured out yet. I looked to her head for the answers.

_"But only Nyx has the power to connect creatures by mind and Lela hadn't been Marked yet. It shouldn't be possible." _Her thoughts somewhat scared me because it meant that this was unknow grounds- even for Nyx. I turned to look up at the amazing goddess and she was smiling like a lunatic.

"It seems that Lela has a stronger power than we first thought. Now to explain this to Zoey. You seem a little lost, my daughter." Zoey nodded. Not only did she look confused but I could feel it rolling off of her in waves.

"Come daughters, all we be explained in the time that you are in the Spirit World." Nyx said, smiling.

**AN//: Alright my people. In the next chapter it's up to you and I won't be able to write it until you've reviewed. The Next chapter will either be **

**a)Lela's POV, where she is still in the spirit world and everything is explained. But trouble arises. **

**or**

**b) Damien's POV in the "real" world where something weird is happening. He tells us what happens while Lela and Zoey are in the spirit world and it basically gives him a heart attack! LOL!**

**As always **

**REVIEW**

**_REVIEW_**

**_REVIEW_**


	17. Please Bear With Me

Hello my faithful readers,

I thank you for being so patient with me, if not, thank you for not sending me hate mail. I'm sorry to say that I haven't updated in a while. I am in the process of writing up a bunch of the next chapters to all of my stories so that I can update a lot more frequently. I will not be updating for about a month. That means that all of my stories will be on halt until about November 20. To all of those people that have been reading my stories, thanks for being there. To those of you who have sent me any mail saying that you will happily take over the stories for me, thanks but for now I'm planning on sticking to writing my own stories. I haven't given up yet. You guys will be the first people I call on if I decide that I am officially quitting on my stories. Please bear with me while everything gets settled, I know that this is probably frustrating, but I'm pretty sure that you guys won't be complaining as soon as the month is up- I have a ton of new ideas but at the same time I have a bit of writers' block when trying to get them all typed out.

Thanks again,

Morgan Brooke

Silver Fire Vampyre


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